Tron: Legacy, and Why Big Box Office is Important

So the numbers are in, and it looks like "TRON: Legacy" will win this weekend's box office. It is projected to beat "Yogi Bear," and "How Do You Know," which really isn't that surprising. Those two films didn't even try to compete with "TRON's" boisterous ad campaign, and even if they had tried, they would have failed.

E-Ticket Light Cycle Attraction? Let's hope so!

People who know things that I don't predict that TRON will take in north of $40 million this weekend, which is a good amount of money, but not spectacular. Good money is really all that matters though, and it's not just this weekend that's impoartant. The long run will really prove how strong the film is, hopefully making upwards of $100 million domestically.

So what does this mean for us Disney enthusiasts? Quite a bit. First off, there will almost definitely be a sequel, which we'll only know to be a good or bad thing when that film comes out. It also means that Disney has a new successful franchise on their hands, meaning more merchandise sales and money for the film studios.

That's not the most important part to us Disney devotees. It's another successful movie, good for Disney. But how will this effect our beloved parks? Now that it's a fact the movie is popular and no longer speculation, Disney will hopefully start putting more money into research and development for a TRON: Legacy E-Ticket attraction. There's been some here-say about Disney doing putting some Imagineers on the job of developing an attraction, and now there's TRON's popularity as a motivator.

The ride will no doubt be based on some sort of light-cycle experience. What I hope they do at Disneyland is finally put the money into banking the curbs of the old People Mover (which itself used to have a TRON section when it was running the in 80's) and design a radical new light-cycle vehicle that gives the feeling of riding a motorcycle while it zips around the old track. But I doubt that's what will happen. I'm sure they will start from scratch, building another warehouse-type attraction, like Space Mountain or Indiana Jones.

Speculation aside, one thing is fact: now that TRON: Legacy has proven to be a success, its presence will be much more prevalent at the Disney parks. Hopefully will one day have an attraction that brings the amazing visuals of the film to life. If Disney is smart, they won't ignore an epic concept with TRON's light cycles like they did with "Monster's Inc.'s"door labyrinth.