Greetings, programs!

Sorry for the lack of updates, but as you know news updates on the movie are few and far between.

Two British actors have joined the cast of TRON 2...James Frain and Michael Sheen. While Sheen hasn't confirmed reports that he joined the cast of TRON 2, there is a fair amount of evidence that points to him being in the movie.

Production of the movie is still on-going and is scheduled to be finished in July of this year. According to a forum post on Tron 2's page on IMDb, the computer world portion of the movie in being filmed in a studio in Burnaby, BC and the actors take three hours to get into their costumes and two hours to get out.

Be sure to mark your calenders for July 22nd to the 27th! During that time, the new TRON 2 trailer will be shown at Comic Con '09 in San Diego. Hopefully Disney will release this one to the public soon. *crosses fingers*

Last but not lease, we have created the TRON 2 Cheat Sheet to help keep track of all the info about the movie. There is a section of the sheet that has spoilers so beware!!!

Keep in touch with Tron-Sector and sister site Tron Wiki as updates on the movie become available!!

Tron-Sector wishes Tron creator and director Steven Lisberger a happy 58th birthday today!

SLG Publishing is in the middle of a 30% off sale. This sale includes every issue of Tron: The Ghost in the Machine. Now is a great chance to show support for a company that has helped keep Tron in the public eye.

Here's a link with more detailed information: Click here.

Here's the code to use when making a purchase: taxtime09

After the news of renaming the sequel from TR2N to TRZ to TRON 2 to finally just TRON and trying out experimental changes to the logo, us Tron fans have been getting really tired of this name and logo-changing nonsense. Fortunately, some really juicy details about the sequel have finally come in. Our good friend TronFAQ has told us that production has finally started and that /film displayed some of the first images from the set of Tron 2 on their website: a picture of the ENCOM headquarters and an actor in a program suit!

Click here to view the ENCOM set

Click here to view the actor in the program costume

According to Zack, the person that obtained the ENCOM building photo:

They have been spending some crazy money here. They have been blocking off huge main sections of downtown [Vancouver] for some pretty awesome looking action scenes. I saw tons of police cars chasing a guy hanging on to the top of a taxi. There were huge cranes holding up a stunt wire rig rig like I have never seen before. There is definitely some impressive non light cycle real life action in this movie. They have also transformed the tallest building in the city with huge ENCOM logos and futuristic lighting. I was in total awe of how much equipment and gadgets they had. Everything I’ve seen them doing in the last five days is easily some of the most expensive stuff I’ve ever seen. It’s probably is $300 million, even if it’s Canadian dollars. I only managed to grab this crappy still with the big logo and some futuristic room above.

Earlier this week, a user on YouTube posted a video of stunt for Tron 2 that involved a real motorcycle.

Click here to watch the amateur video of the stunt

Looks like things are shaping up really well in Vancouver!!

In other news, we need help expanding Tron Wiki, especially with the influx of all this breaking news. You don't have to edit or contribute a lot; a little goes a long way. We especially need help with the Tron 2.0 (the game, not the movie) related articles. If you have enough time, please visit Tron Wiki and help out! And don't worry about edit wars or evil Wikipedia admins ruining your work. Tron Wiki was created by fans, for fans!

Stay tuned for more details as they come in!


UPDATE (by TronFAQ) 04/13/09: Here are a couple more photos from the set!  

See them larger HERE.

UPDATE (by TronFAQ) 04/15/09: We have even more photos from the set now, dated April 6th and taken by a tourist. Click the links in this message post to see them!

Many thanks to Cyberwolven for finding them!


END OF LINE

EDIT: Don't worry! This was just an April Fools joke. - Mr. Sinistar

BREAKING NEWS: In a surprise announcement, it has been reported that director Joseph Kosinski recently stormed off the set of TRON 2 mid-way through principal photography, because of creative differences with the producers. Rumors quote him stating that he has left the project, due to the producers forcing him to add elements to the film that are the equivalent of ''what the Ewoks were to Return of the Jedi''.

Famed game-to-big-screen movie director Uwe Boll, has been brought in to replace Kosinski. Wasting no time, he is reportedly already working with the actors and production crew to bring some bold new plot and character changes to the film. Much of the initial footage will need to be re-shot, because of the all-new storyline.

According to a recent post on Boll's blog, the new storyline will have very little to do with the digital world of TRON. Instead, it will focus more on the complex relationships between video game developers and the company management they work for.

This new direction will institute a departure from typical special effects and action sequences, to free up much of the film's now reduced budget to allow for more lavish real-life sets, such as the Encom gaming development studios and the somewhat cool-sounding Space Paranoids Karaoke Bar.

After hearing the news, we here at TRON-Sector are actually excited about this new development. After all, TRON isn't about high-tech CGI special effects, action sequences, and gaming, so much as it is about the human element. Who cares about cheesy action scenes, when we get a glimpse of Encom CEO Kevin Flynn working directly with his staff of gaming engineers to develop the next big TRON arcade game - on time, within budget, and in a beautiful working environment of cubicles as far as the eye can see. And what of this rumored Alan & Laura Bradley musical duet in the Space Paranoids Karaoke Bar?

I'm sure all TRON fans can agree that there is much to be excited about!

Check out the latest information about the production on Uwe Boll's Blog.

APRIL FOOL 2009, PROGRAMS! :-D
April fool credits:
Uwe Boll director concept: TronFAQ
Story Written by: TheReelTodd & TronFAQ
Cool custom Boll graphics & TRON-Rick-Roll animation: Mr. Sinistar

Medicom Toys in Japan (the same toy company that brought us the Kubrick Lego-like Tron figurines and vehicles a few years back) are releasing a high quality 5-inch vinyl figure of Mickey Mouse wearing a blue program outfit. Unfortunately the figure is only available for pre-order in Japan and is expected to be released in September 2009. The figure costs ¥ 6,090 yen or $62 USD.

Hopefully, it will be reach the our side of the screen...uh, I mean our side of the world soon!

It seems that more and more awesome info and updates on TRON 2 continue to roll in as we draw closer to the start of production and these 2 newest updates are some of the most exciting news that has been revealed! New details have emerged on the storyline, characters and vehicles that will appear in TRON 2.

Click here to read the article (SPOILERS AHEAD!): TR2N Story Details Reveal A Little More About What Kosinski & Co. Are Up To!!

EDIT: It seems that Walt Disney Productions has confirmed that famous French electronic music duo Daft Punk has signed on to compose the music score for TRON 2.

You can read the article here: Daft Punk: Tron 2.0

Daft Punk just recently won a Grammy for their song ''Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger'' from their live album Alive 2007.

Thanks to achilles and TechFalcon for the tips!

Our very own TRON-Sector member and TRON Wiki founder Mr. Sinistar, has managed to score an interview with Frank Serafine who was the Sound Designer for TRON. Serafine created virtually all of the sound effects for the original TRON film.

In the interview, Serafine reveals exactly how he created the sound effects for the Light Cycles, Recognizers, Identity Discs, Tanks, and more. He also shares a few tantalizing tidbits about the upcoming TRON sequel.

Congratulations to Mr. Sinistar for scoring this great interview with Mr. Serafine.

Pretty much every TRON fan is familiar with the name Syd Mead - the man responsible for visualizing the film's amazing futuristic look and style. For those of you who watched the TRON 20th Anniversary DVD's special features repeatedly and long for more, the new DVD featurette: 2019, A Future Imagined may help to fill that void.

Visual Futurist Syd Mead reflects upon the nature of creativity and how it drives the future. Although TRON is not its focus, the short film provides insight into the fascinating mind of one of the most influential artists of modern cinema.

If you're a fan of TRON, chances are Blade Runner is among your cherished sci-fi film collection. Syd discusses some of the interesting elements explored in it.

'' Where does technology take us when we can start to play god and duplicate ourselves as an artificial construct?'' ''When you create something deliberately, do you have the right to get rid of it when you don't want it anymore?'' -- Syd Mead

Shot in true 1920x1080p high definition, the video looks great and has cool, moody ambient music playing while Syd shares his thoughts on where we're headed and why it's so hard to predict the future.

You can check out the trailer on directory of photography Jim Hunter's website, or on re:frame.

It's not very long at 8 minutes in length (total running time, including credits), but I rather enjoyed the video and bet you will too. The producers are working toward making a full-length feature with Syd Mead. Depending on how well this video sells, we may be treated to a whole lot more next time around.

The video can be ordered on the re:frame website: 2019, A Future Imagined for $8.99 (USD). There's still time to get it before Christmas. It would make a good stocking stuffer for any TRON-loving sci-fi fan.

Watkins College of Art in Nashville Tennessee is having a Design & Film's Artist Lecture Series and BARRY COOK, the director of Disney's Mulan, will be speaking. In 1981 Cook joined Disney as an effects animator on Tron.

Thursday, October 23rd
RECEPTION:6:00pm
LECTURE: 6:30pm
Watkins Theatre
2298 Rosa L Parks Blvd
Nashville, TN 37228

Event is FREE & open to the public. (I plan on being there)

More info at the here


Other Tron related news, be sure to check out the UK special effects magazine called SFX, has a collection edition issue out called Scifi's Greatest FX which sports a slick 5 page article on Tron. Photos and more info in the forurms here.

Walt Disney Studios recently presented their roster of upcoming films, during a showcase that took place on September 24th, at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.

Among those films, the TR2N sequel was mentioned and the same teaser footage shown at the 2008 San Diego Comicon was presented again. Attending the event, were people from the press and within the entertainment industry. When the teaser was shown: the crowd reaction is said to have been very positive, similarly to how it was received at Comicon.

Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook was reported as having stated that the TR2N sequel is for sure a go.

Sources: International Herald Tribune and Ain't-it-Cool News.

Thanks to cirlin for the additional tip.

Pretty much every TRON fan has seen the blurry bootleg proof-of-concept footage taken at Comic-Con 2008. Low-quality, shaky, and with part of the screen missing, it still lit us all up with excitement, wonder, curiosity, and left us with many questions. With the exception of those lucky enough to actually see the footage in person, almost no one knows what the finer details looked like.

What do the new light cycles look like in detail? Resident artist Ed Keefe gave us an impressive look at his take on that particular end of things.

Comic book artist and illustrator Matt Haley was at Comic-Con 2008 - not just as a fan, but as part of the industry. Unfortunately he was stuck at his booth during the TR2N footage showing and did not get to see it in person. Like most of us, he watched the blurry bootleg version with great excitement, longing for more.

Not long ago, he illustrated and published a remarkable and beautifully detailed image of a TR2N figure based on the low-quality footage he saw. You can see the illustration in all it's high-res glory by clicking the image he posted on his blog here.

When I first saw the image in high quality, I actually thought it was official TR2N artwork. It isn't, and Matt himself is uncertain as to how accurate the detailing is, but if the bootleg video got you fired up, you'll want to check out his beautiful illustration of the TR2N figure. I bet you'll be smiling ear to ear all over again.

TRON: The Ghost in the Machine #6 will be available in comic book stores on Wednesday, September 10th!

Also don't forget that the first two issues can be purchased at Amazon.com, and all five earlier issues at SLG's online store: TRON #1, TRON #2, TRON #3, TRON #4, and TRON #5.

If you pick up a copy, let us know what you think in the I/O forum!

UPDATE: TronFAQ, 7:31PM 09/04/2008

Diamond Comics has done it again, for the second time in a row. Originally, their site listed TRON #6 as having a September 4th release date. But this has now been bumped to the 10th, next week. Apologies for the error. Trust me, you're not the only one who's frustrated by these shifting dates.

THIS IS *NOT* A JOKE...

From the AICN post:

The footage started with a computer generated guy peeking around a corner. He had light blue glowing lines on him. As the dude peeked around the corner a sound can be heard, a low rumble.

Keep in mind they didn’t announce what this was, just that it was a surprise presentation.

The guy hears the sound, getting louder, and he runs down the corridor, black obsidian walls. A vehicle speeds behind him and he jumps in the air, throwing a stick out in front of him and suddenly we’re underneath him as he jumps for it in mid-air, the lightcycle forming around him. He hits the ground running and the lightcycles battle.

Read the entire article here: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37618

This is BIG folks... BIG. Seems they are referring to it as TR2N. Oh... and Jeff Bridges is BACK as Kevin Flynn!!!!!

Discuss it Here.

UPDATE:
More details have emerged from AICN here. Apperently it was meant to be shown in 3D, and it's Clu as the young Flynn warrior.

See the teaser here: View It Now

*** UPDATED ***
I'm back from FunSpot with a full report. Video will follow later this week

Check it out in the Forums Here.

Auric's Video of the Main Room at FunSpot

Auric's Video of him Playing TRON

Amazing Place, Amazing Time.