Tron Legacy becomes Box Office Hit

[Dreaming Of Pandora]

If you wait long enough, it's not a sequel, it's the beginning of a whole new franchise. So it is with 'TRON: Legacy,' which proved so huge in its first three days that it rendered the original movie 28 years ago a mere footnote in the reboot's success.

'TRON: Legacy' dominated the box office with an estimated $43.6 million, about $17 million more than the 1982 'TRON' earned during its entire run. You'd think a sequel to a movie made nearly 30 years ago and beloved only by a cult of fanboys would face an uphill climb at the box office, but Disney deserves a lot of credit for expertly marketing the sequel, making sure it had state-of-the-art special effects, getting Jeff Bridges to return as the star (and to play opposite a CGI version of his younger self), and getting it into as many 3-D and IMAX theaters as possible.

In fact, IMAX screens made up more than 25 percent of the movie's midnight opening take of $3.6 million early Friday, a record ratio for IMAX. Those spectacle surcharges, plus enthusiastic word-of-mouth, should keep the new 'TRON' a top moneymaker throughout the holiday season. Not to mention ensuring that Disney doesn't wait another 28 years before making 'TRON: Legacy: Legacy.'

Even so, given the hype, many pundits expected 'TRON: Legacy' to open even bigger, with estimates as high as $54 million.

'Tron: Legacy' Gets the High Score at Weekend Box Office - The Moviefone Blog