One of the Best Sci-Fi Movies of the 21st Century Gets Overtaken by Jared Leto’s Latest Flop at Global Box Office

One of the Best Sci-Fi Movies of the 21st Century Gets Overtaken by Jared Leto’s Latest Flop at Global Box Office Image via Summit Entertainment By  Rahul Malhotra Published 55 minutes ago Rahul Malhotra is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has been writing for Collider for over two years, and has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal to introduce audiences to a whole new world of cinema. 

Swing and a miss > measured victory. Also, #JusticeForHan. (He/Him). Sign in to your Collider account follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Although there has been little for Tron: Ares to celebrate during its disappointing theatrical run, the movie can now boast about having overtaken one of the greatest science-fiction movies of the last two decades. Tron: Ares will conclude its run with under $100 million domestically and less than $150 million worldwide, which is a massive drop from the $400 million-plus global haul of its predecessor, Tron: Legacy. Millennial audiences would remember that Legacy was declared a flop following its release, and it took over a decade of cult obsession to convince Disney of the franchise's worth. However, the significant creative deviations that Ares took seem to have alienated that same audience.

After nearly 40 days of release, the movie is sitting at $72 million domestically and around $141 million worldwide. This puts it ahead of the $140 million lifetime global haul of the movie Source Code, which debuted in theaters back in 2011. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a soldier who must endure a time loop until he stops an attack aboard a moving train, the film marked Duncan Jones' sophomore directorial effort following his breakout hit, Moon. However, unlike Ares, Source Code falls squarely in the mid-budget bracket. The movie was produced on a reported budget of $32 million, making it a far more profitable venture than Ares, which reportedly cost $220 million and is projected to lose Disney as much as $130 million.

Directed by Joachim Rønning, who previously made the Disney movies Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Ares is headlined by the Oscar-winner Jared Leto, who is coming off the critical and commercial dud Morbius. Even that movie, which played a huge role in the destruction of Sony's Spider-Man universe, will end up being a bigger hit than Ares. Morbius made nearly $170 million worldwide, against a far leaner reported budget of around $80 million. That said, it received terrible reviews, whereas the critical response to Ares was more mixed. The movie seems to have settled at a 58% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.

'Source Code' Earned Glowing Reviews

Source Code, on the other hand, is now sitting at a "certified fresh" 92% on the platform, where the critics' consensus reads, "Finding the human story amidst the action, director Duncan Jones and charming Jake Gyllenhaal craft a smart, satisfying sci-fi thriller." Jones leveled up with his next project, the $160 million video game adaptation Warcraft, which made around $440 million globally. His subsequent return to sci-fi, the Blade Runner-coded Netflix film Mute, opened to poor reviews. Also featuring Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright, and Michelle Monaghan, Source Code remains his best-reviewed movie.

Check out Ares in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

Source Code

Like PG-13 Action Drama Mystery Release Date April 1, 2011 Runtime 93 Minutes Director Duncan Jones Writers Ben Ripley

Cast

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• Jake Gyllenhaal
• Michelle Monaghan
• Vera Farmiga
• Jeffrey Wright

Genres Action, Drama, Mystery Powered by Expand Collapse

• Movie News
• Tron: Ares
• Jared Leto

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