Jared Leto surprise shows at ‘Tron: Ares’ screening but cinema nearly empty

Jared Leto gave a surprise introduction to his latest film, Tron: Ares, at a screen in San Francisco, which had very few people in attendance.

The Thirty Seconds To Mars frontman stars in the third movie in the Tron saga, playing a sophisticated AI soldier who leaves the digital world for our reality. The film comes 15 years after the second film, Tron Legacy.

The movie has been a box office failure so far, with $102million ($72.6million) worldwide at the box office from a reported $180million (£134million) budget. Rumours that the film may lose as much as $132million (£98.6million) are already circulating online.

That audience disinterest appeared to be personified by the actor’s appearance at an October 9 showing of the film at San Francisco’s Metreon cinema. Despite it being a special preview in advance of the film’s release, a video of the introduction (shared by Screen Thrill below) shows the 600-seat auditorium sparsely populated, with a few fans cheering on the star.

The actor thanked the audience for being there, before discussing his relationship with the original 1982 movie, saying it “changed my life” and that: “To me, this is a childhood dream.”

The film has received mixed reviews from critics, currently standing at 53 per cent on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. NME’s Matt Maytum gave the film three stars, writing: “You might feel like you could leave it another decade or so until you fancy another one but for a couple of hours it sure is fun to be plugged back into the Grid again.”

Leto will next be seen in the big screen adaptation of Masters Of The Universe, where he will be playing the villain Skeletor. Recently, co-star Nicholas Galitzine shared the first look of him in character as hero He-Man, to celebrate the film having finished shooting.