After years of being stuck in development hell, Tron: Ares has finally arrived in cinemas. Following its opening weekend, you might be wondering if it’s considered a box office success. To answer that question, we need to look at its budget.
The sci-fi movie marks the latest in the Disney franchise, which kicked off with the neon-drenched 1982 flick Tron. After building a cult following thanks in part to its groundbreaking special effects, sequel Tron: Legacy dropped in 2010.
The threequel, led by Jared Leto as a super-intelligent program named Ares, took another 15 years to make it to the big screen. The new film has received a lukewarm reception from the critics, earning just 57% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Tron fans are more forgiving, scoring it 87% so far. The question now is whether Ares can electrify audiences beyond its devoted fanbase – and, more importantly, is it a box office success?
How much Tron: Ares needs to make to break even
Firstly, let’s consider how much it needs to make at the box office: with a reported production budget of approximately $180 million, it needs to draw in around $450 million minimum.
How did we get to that figure? Well, the rule of thumb is that new movies need to make approximately 2.5 times their original budget to break even due to the additional costs such as fees to exhibitors, merchandising, and taxes.
The $180 million sum is the estimated production budget, meaning there are also marketing costs to consider, which for Disney franchise flicks can exceed $100 million. Plus, studios only keep about 50-60% of box office revenue (and even less from international markets).
So, even if Tron: Ares hits $450 million, it wouldn’t represent a major profit, but rather a modest return for a film of this scale and cost.
Tron: Ares box office total
As of October 13, 2025, Tron: Ares has made just over $33.5 million in North America and $27 million internationally, bringing its total box office haul to $60.5 million.
Original predictions estimated a $40-45 million domestic opening weekend, with a $80-90 million global total. The underperformance was only made more glaring by the fact that there’s not much competition, with Roofman the only other big release at the weekend.
However, many US audience members were no doubt busy watching the MLB playoff game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners, as well as the 12 NFL games on Sunday (October 12).
David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, told Variety, “The movie was tracking well, but interest stalled during the last 10 days and the opening dropped.”
But, he added that “the science fiction genre has always done well overseas. This is effects-driven, good-guys-versus-bad-guys storytelling that’s understood and well-liked across all cultures.”
So sales may pick up in the weeks to come, but even so, it’s unlikely it will be a huge box office success for Disney. We’ll be sure to keep this post updated as and when new figures arrive.
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