Dressed in a striking red raincoat over a crisp white suit,
Jared Leto made a dramatic appearance 30 feet above London’s Piccadilly Circus
on October 1, promoting the premiere of Tron: Ares. Standing tall like
some cosmic ruler, he waved to the crowd, aiming to generate buzz for his
latest sci-fi blockbuster.
The spectacle had all the trademarks of a Leto
campaign—flashy, risky, and headline-grabbing. But despite the grand gesture,
the stunt failed to achieve its main goal: bringing people into theaters.
Unfortunately, Tron: Ares hit the box office like a Light Cycle crashing into a wall. The film earned just $33.2 million domestically across 4,000 screens—well below projections—and only $60.2 million globally. That’s a grim start for a movie with a production budget of at least $180 million. Studio insiders had long worried the film would only attract hardcore fans, and they were right. Its core demo—men aged 18 to 24—largely skipped the film, and its mediocre B+ CinemaScore didn’t help. At this rate, Tron may be done with theaters altogether.
Leto, who thrives on theatricality, has a long history of
headline-grabbing stunts. He once scaled the Empire State Building to promote
his band, 30 Seconds to Mars, simply because he’d always been fascinated by the
landmark. That flair for drama is a big part of his brand.
But in recent months, that brand has faced challenges. A
wave of allegations surfaced in Air Mail, with nine women accusing Leto
of inappropriate behavior ranging from flirtation with minors to indecent
exposure. His representatives denied the claims, and no further accusations
have emerged. Still, Disney executives were reportedly rattled, unsure what
might come next.
Despite the controversy, Leto remained the face of the Tron:
Ares campaign, traveling globally and behaving professionally, according to
studio sources. He reportedly earned a high seven-figure acting fee, plus
another seven figures as a producer.
Next up: Leto is set to play Skeletor in MGM and Mattel’s Masters
of the Universe—a bold choice that could help reposition him in the
industry, given the villain’s campy yet menacing reputation.
Still, it’s unlikely Leto will command the same paydays or
creative clout going forward. The days of pushing projects through on sheer
charisma, as he did with Tron: Ares, may be behind him. Originally
conceived as a traditional sequel to 2010’s Tron: Legacy, the film was
reworked with Leto’s character, Ares, as the central figure—largely due to his
persistence and backing from Disney exec Sean Bailey.
But after the flop of Sony’s Morbius in 2022 and now Tron:
Ares, Leto’s status as a leading man appears to be in steep decline. One
top talent manager put it bluntly: “If Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, and
Benedict Cumberbatch are struggling to land leads, why would anyone bet on
someone who can’t open a movie and has question marks around his reputation?”
In the end, the failure of Tron: Ares wasn’t just
about Leto. As one agency insider put it, “You could have cast Ryan Gosling and
it still wouldn’t have worked. No one was asking for this reboot.”
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