“No One Asked for This Reboot”: ‘Tron’ May Mark End of Jared Leto’s Franchise-Leading Days

There he stood, in a red raincoat draped dramatically over a white suit, perched 30 feet above Piccadilly Circus for the Oct. 1 London premiere of Tron: Ares. What was Jared Leto doing up there, greeting his public like some interstellar overlord?

Drumming up excitement for his latest blockbuster release, of course. The stunt was straight out of the Leto playbook — involving bombast, tall buildings and shoulder-length hair jostled by the elements — but didn’t succeed at its primary mission: driving audiences to theaters.

Like a Light Cycle slamming into a Jetwall, Tron: Ares was savagely derezzed at the box office this weekend, bringing in at least $10 million less than its projected opening gross. The Disney sci-fi tentpole pulled in a dismal $33.2 million from 4,000 theaters against a net production budget of at least $180 million. Overseas, the sci-epic also failed to connect, grossing $27 million for a global start of $60.2 million. Some at Disney…