After almost a decade of being in and out of development, a third TRON movie finally entered production last month, and Disney recently unveiled an official promo image featuring the titular Program (Jared Leto) in his red light-suit.
Now, a video from the sequel's set gives us a first glimpse of Leto preparing to shot a scene without his helmet.
The Blade Runner 2049 actor stars as "a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings."
This marks a major departure from the previous movies, which took place almost entirely in the digital world of the Tron arcade game.
TRON: Ares will also star Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, with Gillian Anderson. No details on their characters were provided in the recent press release.
Leto will also produce along with Sean Bailey, Jeffrey Silver, Justin Springer, Emma Ludbrook and Steven Lisberger, with Russell Allen on board as executive producer.
“I’m excited to be part of the TRON franchise and bring this new film to fans around the world," director Joachim Rønning said in a statement. "TRON: Ares builds upon the legacy of cutting-edge design, technology and storytelling. Now more than ever, it feels like the right time to return to the Grid.”
Ares is being marketed as a follow-up to 2010's TRON: Legacy, but we don't know if it'll be a direct sequel or more of a relaunch of the franchise. Joseph Kosinski's movie was not particularly successful at the box office and drew mixed reviews from critics, but it developed a loyal following over the years, and fans have been clamouring for a third film for quite some time.
Previous reports have indicated that some or all of the cast of Legacy (Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde) might reprise their roles, but if any of them are involved, it's yet to be confirmed.
Rønning previously directed Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, and co-directed Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales with Espen Sandberg. He recently completed filming on the Daisy Ridley feature Young Woman and the Sea.
The movie hasn't been given an exact release date, but it is currently on track to hit theaters at some point next year.