Disney Wants Kosinski for ‘Tron’

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on September 11, 2007

Who the hell is Joseph Kosinski? Don’t worry, until it was announced not too long ago that he would direct a remake of Logan’s Run, we had never heard of him either. It turns out that Kosinski is a commercial director who has delivered award-winning commercial spots for the likes of Nike, Apple and Nintendo. And apparently that sort of resume is good enough for Disney to turn over the keys to the “next chapter” of Tron.

Yes, you read that right. According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter in Toronto, Kosinski is in final negotiations to develop and direct Tron. They are specifically calling it “the next chapter” of the 1982 cult favorite rather than a remake. Kosinski will oversee the visual development of the project and have input on the script, which is being written by “Lost” writers Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. Steven Lisberger, who co-wrote and directed the original film, will serve as one of the producers on the project.

Of course, plot details are being kept secret at this point (probably because they don’t exist), but I’m sure we can all begin speculating as to what “the next chapter” will bring. The original Tron, considered the first film to ever use computer-generated images, told the story of a video game programmer who became trapped inside of a video game and forced to fight against the games that he helped create. As you can imagine, just about everyone in the visual effects world will be all over this one, as it was one of the films that inspired the modern day CG effects that power movies like Star Wars: Episode 1 and Pirates of the Caribbean. To me, a new Tron flick would be very cool, introducing a cult classic to a new generation, but it could never even hope to have the same effect on the cinematic landscape that the first one did. This is one of those projects that lead me to believe that studios are remaking movies just because they can’t come up with anything new. Fortunately for them, people will go see these movies and there are endless sources of directors like Joseph Kosinski who would love to do the job.

On the Side: The original Tron also inspired a very popular arcade game, which would ultimately earn more money than the film did.

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