Joseph Kosinski’s Tron 2.0 Casting Begins

There was a lot of buzz about Joseph Kosinski’s “Tron 2.0″ at Comic Con this year, and apparently everyone who saw the test footage that Kosinki shot in order to wow the studio was equally wowed by it. Now a couple of things have become clear about the movie, in particular the plot: it will be a sequel to the 1982 Disney original, and not a reboot/remake, according to this THR article. Also, the film has cast its first two actors, and they just happen to be babes at that — Olivia Wilde, currently spending time on FOX’s House TV show, and Beau Garrett, last seen in the “Fantastic Four” sequel.

THR has more on the two ladies’ casting and their characters:

The original, about a programmer thrust into a computer and forced to fight in games he helped create, is remembered for its sci-fi gladiator-style battles and groundbreaking special effects.

The new movie is acting as a “next chapter.” Plot details are being guarded closely, but Wilde will play a worker in the virtual world who tries to help fight Master Control Program, the villainous intelligence protocol that was the nemesis in the original film.

Garrett will play a siren in the virtual world.

No plot details about the movie have been revealed as yet, but there are rumors Jeff Bridges, who played the programmer male lead in the original, may return in some capacity. Or at least it appears as if the filmmakers want him back. Bridges said as much in this interview with Collider.com from 2007:

According to Jeff, he’s being pitched an idea for the sequel pretty soon. He didn’t say what the idea was or who was involved…but he did say the reasons he might want to do it is the innovations to cinema. Here’s what he said, “But the reasons to do it and the reason I did that one (The original Tron) was because it was so innovative and I understand that they’ve got a whole new batch of stuff like that… innovations that they want to use on this so that could be kind of fun.”

Sounds like he’s definitely leaning towards coming back. Wouldn’t it be great if he came back as the villain? The Master Control Program? The “creator” who was seduced by his own creation, and became corrupted by the power? Anyways, just a thought.

As to the announced casting for “Tron 2.0″, I would have cast Wilde (below) as the “siren” and Garrett (top, right) as the “worker” myself, but I suppose you can’t go wrong with either.