'Tron' gets an upgrade

Nearly 30 years after its debut, Disney's 1982 tech-fantasy "Tron" - then a box-office flop - is shaping up as the Energizer Bunny of movies.

Disney surprised observers by announcing work on a sequel several years ago, and now "Tron: Legacy" is due out Dec. 17. Then came last week's news: A third movie may already be in the works, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Lightning-fast sequels aren't a new concept, of course. In 2008, Summit Studios announced a "Twilight" sequel just one day after the first movie release; "Iron Man" hit theaters with a built-in teaser for a follow-up, which comes out May 7. What's surprising is that Disney may build a franchise on a film that wasn't a success to begin with.

Targeted to a generation of tech-savvy teenagers, "Tron" starred a young Jeff Bridges as a software engineer sucked into a giant mainframe. The effects were cutting-edge and the action scenes arcade-ready (a video game capitalized on the film's release), but ticket sales were disappointing. Only later did "Tron" become a campy cult favorite.

Bridges is now an Oscar winner, and the sequel looks like a sleek update - more iPhone than Commodore 64 - but "Tron: Legacy" seems far from a sure thing. Today's young viewers weren't around for the original, and the adults who were would seem to have stayed away in the first place. One way or another, the legacy of "Tron" will soon be put to the test.