Marketing for "tent-pole" movies -- big
budget/big risk/big potential payoff -- used to start about a year before their release, but this is the third year that a trailer for the movie has made a debut at the comic book confab. "We're going
to show you five minutes of the movie every year for 20 years," quipped comedian Patton Oswalt when introducing it.
The original "Tron," released in 1982, features a man pulled inside a video game who is forced to play space-age gladiator games. It was a hit with young males but failed to attract a wide audience. Given the costs of this version -- as much as $350 million -- Disney needs to get out the message "that this is a film that everyone will find cool and contemporary and relevant," says Sean Bailey, Disney's president for production.
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