IMAX theaters around the world today were host to the all-new Tron Legacy teaser trailer, the culmination of a viral event that began last week with an international scavenger hunt.
Though New York received the trailer this morning at 10am, beating the west coast by nearly eight hours, fans in Los Angeles were treated to a special double-screening of the teaser with guest appearances by Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski as well as the original TRON director, Steven Lisberger.
Opening with a surprisingly effective 3-D version of the green MPAA rating, the teaser follows with Disney’s 3-D Magic Castle logo which fades into a computerized counterpart.
We hear voiceover from Bruce Boxleitner as Alan Bradley, explaining to Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) that, last night, he traced a call from Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) back to Flynn’s Arcade, closed for 20 years and Flynn missing as long. Sam is suspicious, telling Alan that it’s not as though he’s going to find his dad sitting there working.
We see the arcade as Sam enters, making his way to the TRON machine against the back wall. A familiar sight to those who attended the arcade viral event at Comic-Con, Sam kneels down and notices that the console is on an axis and, spinning it open, reveals a hidden passage behind the arcade wall.
In a back room, we’re shown an over-the-device shot of the digitizing laser pointed at Sam and suddenly we cut to the inside of the computer world and an extreme long shot of a Recognizer landing and exteriors of the computer city, far more detailed and “real world” than anything from the first film,; imagine Fritz Lang directing Blade Runner with an extra dose of colored neon.
There are a number of flashes of locations and people; Olivia Wilde’s Quorra lying in a lounge chair, her battling with Sam using neon blue discs (very different looking than the discs in the original), a White-haired most-likely villain (who may very well have been Michael Sheen; Kosinksi said that he was in the trailer and that his character is barely recognizable) and a shot of young Jeff Bridges.
We hear a brief bit of dialogue between father and son as Sam asks, “Dad?” and Flynn responds,”Son?”
“Long time,” says Sam.
“You have no idea,” says Flynn.
The logo comes up and is followed by a quick shot of two battling light cycles.
At the conclusion of the trailer, Kosinski took to the stage and announced, “I drove half an hour and I’m not leaving ’til we see it again!”
Because of the nature of the IMAX print, the trailer took nearly 25 minutes to rewind (which, unfortunately, is why other cities were denied a second viewing). In the intervening period, Kosinski answered questions from fans, distributing signed Tron Legacy posters to all who asked a question.
Of note from Kosinski’s comments:
Though Cindy Morgan is not in the film, “that doesn’t mean she isn’t in the world of TRON.” This was one of several purposefully vague comments from Kosinski, mostly likely pointing to Morgan being involved with an upcoming viral event.
When someone asked about Daft Punk having an actual role in the movie, Kosinksi responded with, “Yeah,” before adding with a definite wink, “[They’re] in the movie. Their music is all over it.”
The music in the teaser is a Daft Punk track, written exclusively for the trailer. The alleged leaked track from a month back was not real.
Some sort of live Daft Punk show is still being planned as cross-promotion for the film, but Kosinski did not go into any specifics.
Sheen’s character is a nightclub owner in the computer world. His name, never before revealed, is Caster, though the spelling of that is uncertain.
When asked whether or not Disneyland would get a Flynn’s Arcade, Kosinski smiled and said, “There are many things in the future. They are coming.”
Though Bit will not feature in the film, there will be a more advanced right hand information officer for Flynn called Jarvis.
At the conclusion of the second showing of the teaser, “Flynn Lives” T-shirts were handed out in the lobby. One fan, Tim Tran, announced that he had made a nine-hour drive from northern California and that the teaser had absolutely been worth it.
Tran, who joked that growing up with two sisters prevented him from getting his fill of TRON as a kid, said that he also attended Comic-Con last year to visit Flynn’s Arcade and plans on following Tron Legacy‘s viral chase right up until the film’s release.
Tron Legacy opens in 3D theaters and IMAX 3D on December 17, 2010. You can see the trailer for yourself in front of Alice in Wonderland starting on March 5.
