Steven Lisberger, Live Planet films and Phenomenal-ness!

The rumor mill is grinding away and although pre-production on the film is continuing very little confirmed information is coming out. One source from inside production is quoted, "...unfortunately I am not allowed to disclose ANY information about the project. All I can say is that its going to be phenomenal." Not exactly huge news but it does mean that the design of the film is going forward.

Another source has said Live Planet Films, owned by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, is involved in pre-production of TR2N. The creative force behind Oscar winner Good Will Hunting and critically acclaimed Gone Baby Gone would add mainstream credibility to the production and may help shed the TRON franchise of it's "geek" reputation. Live Planet was also the production company on Project Greenlight, so pushing the creative envelope is nothing new. Hopefully their involvement will be limited to plot and practical design and they'll leave the more technical aspects to the seasoned professionals.

Finally, Tom's Games had a conversation with Steven Lisberger as a follow up to his comments last week that were posted on Aint It Cool News regarding the level of his involvement in the production.

TOM'S GAMES: We weren't sure if you were involved on the film until the AICN story.

STEVE LISBERGER: I talked to Harry [Knowles] just because I wanted to correct the record. It wasn't a situation where it was like, Okay it's time to really start talking about everything. It's just confirming that I was involved, things were progressing and we're all working on it.

TG: So you are working on the film, then? You had told us a while back that you and Disney had been playing around with the idea for years.

LISBERGER: Yes. It's been a long road of development, and I have been involved. It's been going on since 2000. It's gone through various stages, but there is sort of a through line all the things we've tried and attempted and contributed one way or another. Now we have a really great group of people involved, and the studio's very enthusiastic. Our executive at Disney even has the old Tron arcade game in his office. You can't do better than that.

TG: So what has the process been like?

LISBERGER: Things have ebbed and flowed on the project over the years, and that's what happened. This has been ongoing now for sometime, and it's been sort of under the radar. I think it's best that it was under the radar. It's better for the people involved to focus on the work than reading about the publicity.

TG: The Comic-Con teaser took everyone by surprise.

LISBERGER: Yeah, there you go. The miracle of modern technology did not root it out.

TG: So where does "Tron 2" stand now? What are you personally up to?

LISBERGER: How do I put this? it's been a long time since the first film was made, so we're all re-examining the first film together. That's an ongoing process. It's great to be working with Jeff [Bridges] again. He's gotten nothing but better over the years, so that's been a lot of fun.

TG: What will it be like revisiting a movie that came out more than 25 years ago?

LISBERGER: I'm sure there's going to be quite a few people working on the film that were born after it was made, which is a startling thing! It has a unique place in my life, and it's interesting to revisit that.