Disney’s sequel to the 1982 cult classic science fiction film Tron kept the hype rolling on this week with the boost of a viral marketing campaign.
Although Tron 2.0 isn’t due for release until 2011, fans of the original have started a flurry of discussions and rumours about the storyline, whether the new film will be live action and / or CGI and / or a fully 3D film
The viral campaign started earlier this week when various arcade coins with “Flynn’s Arcade” and “Home of Tron” were sent to a number of digital media websites to would spread the word of Tron. Cryptic clues contained on flash drives were decoded to lead user to a FlynnLives website, which contained a countdown to 9:30pm on 23 July 2009.
The site is dedicated to Jeff Bridges’ character Kevin Flynn, a “Genius, Visionary, Modern Hero.” The website finishes with: “We are here for Kevin. Nobody can make us stop believing that he is out there, that he’s waiting for us, and that he will return when the time is right.” With the right time rather specifically being 9:30 this evening, it is far to assume that a big Tron announcement is due at the Comic Con at San Diego, California, USA the multi-day event for fans of comic books, superhero movies, movie memorabilia, action figures, and all things sci-fi.
The viral is building buzz online for the film in a similar way to the effective Why So Serious? Campaign Warner Bros. launched in anticipation of The Joker’s return in The Dark Knight last year. Disney will must be hoping for a similar response to Tron 2.0 after The Dark Knight grossed over a billion dollars worldwide.