I was lucky enough to have a friend working for Jeff Bridges a few years back. And I remember him telling me that Bridges was offered a "Tron" sequel every few weeks - but didn't want a bar of it. The actor would take meetings with those that were interested in developing a sequel, but he'd essentially tell them up front that he didn't really want to be a part of it. He was still very interested in what they had to say, and their ideas, because he was a huge fan of the original movie, but he didn't think he could bring much to the movie. Either that or he didn't want to waste a year doing a popcorn movie.
I'm thinking Bridges' experience on ‘'Iron Man'' changed his mind. I'm suspecting he never wanted in on that "Tron" sequel because he was more into ‘good' flicks - not necessarily high-paying blockbusters, and at the time, the two didn't really go hand-in-hand. "Iron Man" was both those though and it's really changed the climate for popcorn movies. ‘The Dude' has obviously realized that - and thank god! Could you imagine a "Tron 2" without him!?
Bridges tells The Guardian that he's participating in the ‘'Tron'' sequel because it sounded too fun to turn down.
"That's another unique, wild experience that was too good to turn down. Engaging in that world again feels just like it did all that time ago. Basically, I'm still a child, I love being childlike, and here was another chance to play with these crazy toys. And the cutting-edge technology makes it exciting. Doing the teaser trailer for Comic-Con, I had my first experience of motion capture. And that's turning the industry on its head. It's amazing being part of that.
Bridges says this'll be a much more contemporary film - obviously - than the original 1982 film.
"Well, when we made Tron there was no internet, no cellphones. But now we have motion capture, so I think we'll get a far more successful version of the story, which is someone literally getting sucked into a video game. When we did King Kong in the 70s, one minute you'd have a shot of Rick Baker in this big suit and then you'd cut to this 80ft stiff model, and they looked nothing alike. Compare to that Peter Jackson's King Kong the technology is there and they did a wonderful job. I thought they created a beautiful Kong. So I hope that'll be the same for Tron."
Meantime, Aint it Cool News caught up with the film's director, Joseph Kosinski, this past weekend who let drop some titbits on the film - including it's proposed release date of late 2010.
