Cue Daft Punk’s “Derezzed” track on the Tron: Legacy soundtrack because Disney has pulled the plug on Tron Ascension.

More on the story below.

THR confirmed the news earlier today. According to their sources, while Disney could not officially give a reason why they made the announcement, they say that the film was never actually greenlit. However, there were reports that filming could have started as early as this fall in Vancouver, with Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde reprising their respective roles as Sam Flynn and Quorra.

Interestingly enough, the trade says that the studio wanted to add Jared Leto to the cast, but no offers were made to the actor. Cillian Murphy was also expected to reprise his role as Ed Dillinger in the sequel. When we last saw Sam, he had successfully brought the computer program Quorra out into the real world as a fleshy being, leaving room for a potential sequel.

But with Disney confirming live-action adaptations of their animated classics left and right, it’s no real surprise that they would be pulling the plug on Tron 3. For one thing, the film wasn’t a huge commercial success, having only grossed $400 million worldwide. Seeing how Tomorrowland performed at the box office – despite being number one last weekend – may have also influenced Disney’s decision to pull the plug. Until Disney comes out to talk about why they decided to not move forward with the film, all we can do is speculate. Disney’s live-action adaptations of animated films have proven to be more of a lucrative success. Maleficent and Cinderella have both proven to be big hits at the box office, and the studio is currently working on live-action adaptations for The Jungle Book, Alice: Through the Looking Glass, and Beauty and the Beast.

While Tron: Legacy director Joesph Kosinski has an eye for great visual effects, he isn’t the strongest director or storyteller, so maybe the script could have also been an issue for the studio. Despite that, the two films have built a massive cult following, so the news is a huge disappointment for them, especially since hopes were high that production was supposed to start this fall.

No word yet on whether or not Disney is willing to explore bringing Tron 3 back into production. But based on their current film slate, it’s something that probably isn’t even on the back of their minds, especially since they have live-action adaptations, Disney animation, Pixar, Marvel films, and Star Wars.

[Source: THR]