This was not the opening Walt Disney Studios was hoping for. A little under 15 years since Joseph Kosinski’s “Tron Legacy” debuted to $44 million, the studio unleashed a third installment of the franchise, “Tron: Ares.” Directed by Joachim Rønning and starring Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Gillian Anderson, and Jeff Bridges, “Ares” opened to just $33 million in 4,000 theaters in the U.S. That’s even less than the $39 million Leto’s critically savaged bomb “Morbius” found coming out of the pandemic in April 2022.
READ MORE: “Tron: Ares” Review – Jared Leto Wants To Be A Real Boy In This Flashy, Soulless Sequel
Overseas, “Tron Ares” pulled in just $27 million for an overall worldwide cume of $60.5 milloin. At a reported production budget of $180 million, “Ares” will need to have long legs to come anywhere near break-even, especially with just an OK B+ CinemaScore. The entire exercise is a massive disappointment for fans of the underrated “Legacy,” which was profitable in theaters, but somehow never got a direct sequel. This new chapter chucked almost all of “Legacy’s” characters, introducing a new storyline in the same world. “Aries” also has a major tease for another chapter, which is in serious doubt based on its box office.
Hollywood may also be wondering what is going on with pre-release tracking over the past month. Both “Ares” and “The Smashing Machine” (which dropped a shocking 69% in its second weekend) came in under expectations, while “One Battle After Another” was seen as a wildcard difficult to pin down. With decades of data and sampling, tracking services are rarely this off, this often. The next test case for these very expensive services will be Universal Pictures’ “The Black Phone 2,” which is expected to open over $25 million on Friday.
Arriving right behind “Ares” was Paramount Pictures’ “Roofman” which opened to a disappointing $8 million in 3,362 theaters. Starring Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst, the true story has solid reviews (64 on Metacritic, 85% on Rotten Tomatoes), but that same middling B+ CinemaScore. Financed by Miramax, the Derek Cianfrance-directed dramedy cost $17 million. In theory, it still has an excellent shot to break even based on international grosses.
Bill Condon’s big screen adaptation of the stage musical “Kiss of the Spider-Woman” opened to $1 million on 1,330 screens for a not great per-screen average of $752. Starring Diego Luna, Jennifer Lopez, and relative newcomer Tonatiuh, the Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate acquisition has slowly found better reviews than the reaction out of Sundance in January. The film’s Metacritic score is now in the positive at 66 and a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes. It will need substantial word of mouth to make back the $30+ million production budget financed by Artists Equity, among others.
Another Sundance world premiere, Mary Bronstein’s critically acclaimed “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” had a solid debut in limited release, taking in $22,291 per screen in four theaters. Featuring a potential Best Actress nominee in Rose Byrne, A24 will expand the critically acclaimed dramedy in the weeks to come.
Harris Dickinson’s stellar directorial debut, “Urchin,” opened in 3 theatres, earning $42,236 or $14,079 per screen. Released by 1-2 Special in the U.S., it cost just $3 million and hopes to make up its budget in the U.K. and Europe.
In its third weekend, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Best Picture contender “One Battle After Another” showed signs of slowing down, taking in just $6.6 million for a new domestic total of $54.4 million. So far, the global tally stands at $138 million off a $140-170 million production budget (depending on who you believe). Breaking even is highly unlikely, but Oscar statues in one category or another are much more likely.
Other films heading into wide release on Friday besides “Black Phone 2” include Luca Guadagnino’s “After The Hunt,” and Aziz Ansari’s feature directorial debut, “Good Fortune.”
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