With an MLB playoff game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners, and 12 NFL games today, Disney‘s Tron: Ares isn’t popping a wheelie this weekend, slowing down to a $33.5M 3-day, and $60.5M global debut. Originally, it was expected that the Jared Leto movie would clear $40M-$45M domestic, $80M-$90M global.

Essentially, the audience didn’t expand on this 43-year old Disney sci-fi franchise to the young-ins, with only 30% under 25 attending. That said, people chose to see the movie in a premium format with 67% coming from PLF screens, Imax, 3D, ScreenX or DBox. The 3D theaters alone yielded 31%. Imax at $6.6M delivered 20%. Disney has Imax for another week on the movie, and 3D for the entire run.

As we told you yesterday, this is a déjà vu of Blade Runner 2049 all over again, which had a similar budget to Tron: Ares ($180M), exact same Indigenous People’s holiday release date, same $40M forecast and under-delivery stateside with a $32.7M debut. 4-day on Blade Runner 2049 was $37.2M with a $4.4M Monday. While Tron: Ares received a B+, Blade Runner 2049 landed an A- (in the CinemaScore books sometimes they consider an A-/B+ as the same grade with a similar multiple factor). That score pushed Blade Runner 2049 to a 2.8x multiple for a final domestic of $92M and global of $277.9M; numbers which didn’t scream sequel.

In 2010, Tron: Legacy‘s $400M global take and $44M domestic opening was considered an alright, though not slam-dunk success. Hence the prompt skittishness in regards to rushing a sequel out. The project lingered in development for over a decade, but what excited Disney was the potential prescience of the Jesse Wigutow penned project’s concept: A.I. in the real world, and life outside the grid. It was a swing worth taking.

Disney didn’t spare any cool on this movie with a marketing campaign that highlighted the twist of this story: programs and Lightcycles breaking into our world. With a first glimpse of the movie at August 2024’s D23, the studio’s campaign included integrating Lightcycles at live events, i.e. SuperMotocross World Championship, and MLB, NHL, and MLS partnerships with the New York Yankees, Washington Capitals, and Houston Dynamos. There were community-oriented pop-up events like Night Ride Experiences with influencers, LED bike outfitting and exclusive photo-opps and the NYC Lightcycle spin class event that brought the grid into our reality. Adidas, Razer, Mod Pizza, Asus computers, McAfee were promo partners. The NIN song “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” was added as a Fortnite Jam Track, along with a custom suite of inspired-by cosmetics was added to the game including a Hero Outfit + Helmet Visor, and accessories. Minecraft + Discord platforms launched themed features for users to apply to characters and profiles inspired by the movie’s visual motifs.

Among some of the custom integrations there was a team-up with the NFL opener and MrBeast. Saquon Barkley (of the Eagles) raced to the NFL Opening Game on a Lightcycle to Lincoln Financial Fiel where he handed off the Lightcycle to MrBeast (443M subscribers), who sped off to the next game in São Paulo, continuing the narrative through additional custom spots. Activations were amplified across social platforms by NBC Sports, SNFonNBC, Saquon Barkley, the NFL, Disney Studios, and MrBeast. Amon-Ra St. Brown (Lions) and Derrick Henry (Ravens) rode Lightcycles through the stadium for Monday Night Football. On Dancing With the Stars,“Alive As You Need Me To Be” lit up “Disney Night” with a Lightcycle on the dance floor during a custom dance bumper.

Despite the flash and pizzaz, audiences clearly don’t believe there was enough reason to head to Ares.

Paramount’s Roofman is holding in at an $8M opening. For Paramount, the Miramax movie is a sophisticated adult play. The hope is more come out. Channing Tatum’s 2017 NASCAR heist title Lucky Logan from Steven Soderbergh opened to $7.6M and ended its run at $27.7M.

Overall weekend is coming in at an estimated $72M, $1M less than the same 3-day weekend a year ago when Terrifier 3 surprised with an $18.9M opening on a marketing budget built on pure oxygen (meaning they reached out directly to the Cineverse universe). Comscore reports that the fall 2025 box office between post Labor Day and today stands at $770.7M, even with last autumn.

via Deadline