While Tron: Legacy didn’t exactly enjoy the biggest launch at the box office, the film has since gone on to make $400m across the world from us cinema-going programs. Which means that Disney is now ready to kick the sequel’s development light cycle up to the next gear, hiring writer David DiGilio to write a draft of the script.
If your eyebrows are doing a befuddled frown right now, that might be because back in April 2010, it was announced that originalLegacyco-writers and Lost veterans Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz had been engaged to start the early brainstorming on ideas for a likely follow-up and possible third film in a trilogy (not counting the original, of course).
But a few things have happened since then – Legacy’s decent yet not quite stellar box office returns mean the Mouse House is still taking things slowly with regards to any sequel, while Kitsis and Horowitz have been busy. They've landed a deal to produce fantasy genre-tweaking TV drama Once Upon a Time, which has won a slot on US network ABC’s schedule for later in the year, and means their time will be taken up running the show.
Enter DiGilio who, according to the Heat Vision Blog, stepped in with his own take on a sequel concept, which would likely include more dodgy dealings at Encom. Particularly since Legacy went out of its way to drop big hints about Edward Dillinger Jr. (Adam Horowitz – who we doubt was cast if the producers were only looking for a one-shot deal). That said, any real movement on the film is likely to happen if ‘toon series Tron Uprising makes waves on the small screen.
DiGilio has a history with Disney – he’s a product of the studio’s writer program and penned frosty Paul Walker action comedy drama** Eight Below.** And even he might soon be busy with TV work, since he just a pitch to US cable channel Showtime called Last H.O.P.E. (Or Last Hospital On Planet Earth), set in a dystopian future...