'Tron' appetizer: Fans get early look at new film

[October 29, 2010]  BURBANK, Calif. (AP) -- "Tron" fans worldwide are being invited to step into the Grid of the anticipated sequel, "Tron: Legacy."

Walt Disney Pictures is hosting "Tron Night" on Thursday, where fans in 48 countries can see 23 minutes of footage in IMAX 3-D for free. Disney employees also got an early look at the film Thursday at screenings in Burbank.

Selected scenes from the first half of the film take viewers into an updated, three-dimensional version of the digital world that dazzled moviegoers in the 1982 original.

The footage opens with Sam Flynn, played by Garrett Hedlund, accidentally discovering the high-tech landscape where his father disappeared decades earlier.

One moment Flynn is sitting at his dad's dusty old computer, and the next he is a prisoner aboard a spaceship soaring through a dark, geometric world where people wear illuminated suits and one wrong move can be fatal. He's thrown into a room where four women emerge to outfit him with his own body-hugging light suit and "identity disc."

"What am I supposed to do?" Flynn asks.

"Survive," one woman replies.

With that, he's dropped into a high-stakes Frisbee-type battle where the loser is shattered into bits.

Another scene shows the iconic light cycles updated from the original film and a light-up dune buggy that's able to travel off the Grid and onto a rocky landscape, where Flynn's father, played by Jeff Bridges, appears to be meditating and setting off his own glow.

Father and son share an awkward embrace.

"He never thought he'd see you again," says Quorra (played by "House" star Olivia Wilde), who appears to be a friend of the elder Flynn.

Viewers also see electronic rockers Daft Punk, who appear wearing light suits and helmets, in a scene that features the duo's thumping score.

There are speeding light cycles, fireworks and an evil-looking Michael Sheen. There are also light jets and a quick glimpse at Bridges playing a younger version of himself.

"Tron: Legacy" is due in theaters Dec. 17.

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Online:

http://disney.go.com/tron/

[Associated Press; By SANDY COHEN]

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