Tron Legacy Producers Talk Disc Tourneys & Light Cycles

Chris Hudak of GameRevolution had the chance to sit down and chat with Tron Legacy producers Steven Lisberger and Sean Bailey at the D23 Expo in Anaheim. The wide-ranging interview touched on a number of aspects of the film, including the film’s look, its tone, and its music. I’ve excerpted some of the juicier segments below. For the full interview, visit GameRevolution.

Steven Lisberger on the tone of Tron Legacy:

“The tone of first film reflects a certain naïve idealism. This film reflects the temperament of Joe Kosinski, our director, our young writers, and Sean Bailey, my fellow producer – those who have a more realistic point of view of the upsides and downsides of technology and cyberspace.”

Sean Bailey on matching the “newness” of the original Tron:

“The great thing is that the design is relatively timeless, but the ability we had effects-wise, action-wise, the speed we can move the Light Cycles at—we thought we could deliver just an incredible ride, an action movie, a science-fiction movie…It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Sean Bailey on Daft Punk’s involvement in the film:

“It was a really interesting experience…We talk with them all the time; they’ve come up to the set; they’ve been around in the effects—it’s just amazing…They were influential in many ways—a couple specific ways, which I think folks will see. With their music, they were trying to set the feeling of the Tron universe very, very early on.”

On meeting Syd Mead (the vehicle designer on the original Tron):

“Amazing. Amazing to have him. We brought Syd by one day, to walk up and down the halls of our designers—and they were, you know, kind of nervously ’showing their work’! And I have to say, just for me—having seen the movie as a boy, to be able to work as producer with the creator of Tron, Steve Lisberger, is just an incredible thrill.”

At first I wasn’t sure what to think about a Tron sequel. One of the things I love about the original movie is how it was so far ahead of its time in terms of visual effects. In 2010, however, we’re used to seeing giant alien robots fight each other on top of the great pyramids. Would a sequel be able to approach the same level of technical innovation as its predecessor?

After seeing the first full trailer for Tron Legacy however, I lost much of my apprehension. Not only did the footage look great, but it was abundantly clear that the director and producers were committed to faithfully recreating the Tron universe we all know and love. It is good to see the producers showing as much excitement for the project as us fans. I have a feeling that Tron Legacy will be one of the more successful sci-fi films of 2010.

Do you want to see the new Tron? Did the interview make you more excited for the film?

Tron Legacy stars Garrett Hedlund, Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, John Hurt, Michael Sheen and Olivia Wilde. It opens in theaters December 17, 2010.

Source: GameRevolution