There’s a new report out of Deadline about how much money noted box office flop Tron: Ares will lose for Disney, but we’re afraid it may have “de-rezzed” the true statistics just a bit. Whereas Deadline is claiming the movie will lost $132M+ for The Walt Disney Company, the total could come all the way up to more than a quarter billion dollars. And the reason for it is a cute little smoke-and-mirrors accounting trick we’re excited to expose for you!
First, here’s the excellent reporting of the Deadline stuff from Geeks + Gamers:
The report reveals that Tron: Ares cost far more than initially believed—$220 million in production alone, with global marketing and promotional spending adding another $102.5 million. That includes everything from flashy Comic-Con light cycle stunts to a Nine Inch Nails concert at the Los Angeles premiere. When all costs are added up, Disney’s total investment reached an estimated $347.5 million.
— Marvin Montanaro, Geeks + Gamers
Jared Leto as Ares in Tron Ares – YouTube, Disney
The problem for the Deadline math is that there’s a bit of accounting magic at play here that downplays just how severe the losses might be. Let’s look at the paragraph from Deadline, by Anthony D’Alessandro, which needs to be called into question:
At a $160 million box office threshold, Tron: Ares triggers $72.2 million in worldwide theatrical rentals, $37.6M in global home entertainment, close to a $100M in global home television, with an extra $5 million from airlines for a total of $214.8M in revenues. Put this up against the $220 million net production cost shot with Vancouver, BC tax credits, a $102.5M global P&A spend with stunts at San Diego Comic-Con, touring light cycles, a laser light Nine Inch Nails laser-light concert at the Los Angeles premiere that closed down Hollywood Boulevard, $10.8M in others costs and $14.2M in residuals, which gets you to total costs of $347.5M. That gets us to a $132.7 million loss.
Ladies and gentlemen, take a look at the “global home television” profit number that is provided and prepare yourself for a revelation. The claim is that Tron will profit $100M for TV and that makes its losses only $132M+. However, who will be paying that $100M for Tron to be on TV? Well… first, let’s figure out where Tron will likely be on TV globally. If you guess Disney+ and ABC or other global Disney affiliates, congratulations, you just figured out the trickery at play.
The Disney logo with a Tron Ares Overlay – YouTube, Disney
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Now we love D’Alessandro and we love Deadline. But it seems to this author that if Disney sells Tron to Disney for $100M so it can be on Disney+ and ABC, that’s just the left hand giving the right hand money within the corporation, right? I mean, it’s not like Tron is going to Netflix or CBS. It’s going to Disney+ and ABC. So the vast majority of the $100M being paid to Disney for putting on TV is coming from… Disney! It’s just different subsidiaries within Disney paying each other. To the best of my knowledge that’s how this is working.
So did Tron: Ares flop and lose $132M+ like Deadline says? Yes.
Did Tron: Ares lose $250M+ like I say? In very short order… probably yes.
A ship in Tron Ares – YouTube, Disney
But without the knowledge of how this accounting game works inside the industry, you’d likely never know. So we’re happy to try to set the record straight. And who knows? Maybe somebody with even more knowledge will help us track the money in even higher fidelity. We’d love it!
Are you surprised that Tron: Ares may be a bigger flop than anyone suspected? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
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