Recently, a top industry agent claimed that Tron: Ares was so unwanted that not even Ryan Gosling could have saved it from box office failure (The Hollywood Reporter).
You could have had Ryan Gosling, it wasn’t going to work. No one asked for this reboot. If you say, ‘Tron: Ares is good, we just needed a different actor,’ you’re deluding yourself.
Understandably, fans have been divided on that, choosing instead to believe that the La La Land star could have brought in at least $20-$30 million more on the opening day.
Meanwhile, others are quick to see the bigger picture. Even if Ryan Gosling had dragged people to the theaters, it would not have guaranteed success beyond the opening weekend. The quality of Ares speaks for itself, and the film lacks in every aspect that a box office blockbuster needs to succeed.
Ryan Gosling May Not Be the Box Office Draw Fans Think He Is
The town has become a saturated playground for A-list actors who would only sign a deal if it offered them a leading-man role. This clash of artistic egos is becoming increasingly more apparent with the amount of creatively “meh” projects currently flooding the industry.
From Jacob Elordi to Ryan Gosling, most A-listers are leading top-budget movies that are struggling to bring in solid box office numbers. The only successful movies that the latter has been in recently were La La Land and Barbie, and the rest (The Fall Guy and The Gray Man) explain why Gosling is not quite as strong a box office draw as he was a decade ago.
Gone are the days of Blue Valentine, Crazy, Stupid, Love, The Ides of March, Drive, and The Place Beyond the Pines. The early 2010s were the peak of Gosling’s Hollywood career, and the attraction that studio execs feel for him is merely the residual charm of his once glorious and untouchable filmography.
Why Blade Runner 2049 Flopped Despite Stellar Reviews
In an interview with the Montreal Gazette, Denis Villeneuve commented on the commercial failure of his film, Blade Runner 2049:
It’s a mystery. All the indexes and marketing tools they were using predicted that it would be a success. The film was acclaimed by critics. So everyone expected the first weekend’s results to be impressive, and they were shocked. They still don’t understand.
Films like Blade Runner 2049 that do everything right, including hiring Roger Deakins (the best cinematographer), Denis Villeneuve (one of the best directors), the inimitable Hans Zimmer, and Harrison Ford (the lead from the original film), still manage to drown due to a blatant lack of audience interest.
The primary reason why a movie like Blade Runner 2049 would fail while an equally delayed sequel like Top Gun: Maverick would succeed is that a. audience demand, and b. a true movie star as the lead. Despite how well-made the film was, no one asked for 2049. On the other hand, Maverick had Tom Cruise holding the reins, a movie star for the ages when compared to Gosling.
2049 was neither bogged down by competition releasing on the same date. Despite high critical acclaim and massive box office projections, the film remains a mystery and a disappointment. Perhaps it was the long runtime or the slow pacing (as suggested by Sir Ridley Scott). But the real reason behind the film’s failure continues to elude and perplex the industry experts.
Below is a list of details about Blade Runner 2049:
What did you think of Jared Leto’s performance in Tron: Ares? Do you think Gosling could have done justice to the threequel? Share your opinions in the comments below.
Tron: Ares is currently playing in theaters worldwide.
Blade Runner 2049 is available to buy/rent on Amazon Video, Apple TV, and Fandango At Home.
