While fans of TRON may be holding their breath waiting for a sequel to 2010′s TRON: Legacy, Disney XD aims to hold you over with their futuristic animated series, TRON: Uprising.  With the debut of the first episode set to air on the network tomorrow (unless you’ve already watched it here), Disney has released a behind-the-scenes featurette with tons of footage and some great cast commentary from the recent press junket. We were lucky enough to bring you interviews with stars Elijah Wood, who plays Beck, and Mandy Moore, who voices Mara.

TRON: Uprising also stars Emmanuelle Chriqui, Nate Corddry, Lance Henriksen, Reginald VelJohnson, Paul Reubens, Tricia Helfer and, of course, Bruce Boxleitner. The first episode, “Beck’s Beginning,” will air Friday, May 18 (9:30 – 10:00 p.m., ET/PT) with an uninterrupted encore on Disney XD on Monday, May 21 (7:00 p.m. ET/PT), followed by the series launch on Thursday, June 7 (9:00 p.m.).  Hit the jump to see the featurette.

Hannibal Lecter returns! Kinda. Anthony Hopkins, who won the Oscar for his chilling role in The Silence of the Lambs, is set to return to the serial killer genre with Solace. Variety reports that Hopkins is in final negotiations to star in the film, though this time he’ll be the good guy. The thesp will play a former doctor with psychic abilities who works for the FBI. He gets drawn into a serial killer case where his gift is put to good use (because a psychic doctor/FBI agent is a terrible thing to waste). A director has yet to be set, but the script has a nice pedigree. Sean Bailey and Ted Griffin wrote the first draft, which was subsequently rewritten by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, The Amazing Spider-Man). Peter Morgan (The Queen) made the most recent pass, and production is now set to begin sometime early next year.

Disney will forego panels and presentations at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con now that the company has established its own convention with the D23 Expo.  This year’s D23 runs from August 19 – 21st and will include presentations, screenings, celebrity panels, autograph signings, and other fan-friendly activities.  The major ramification for Comic-Con isn’t the loss of films from Walt Disney Studios and Pixar (although that certainly stings), but from the loss of Marvel Studios.  While Marvel will certainly have a presence at Comic-Con, its panels will be reserved for D23.

The schedule for D23 has been released and on Saturday, August 20th from 11am to 12:30 pm, the presentation for Walt Disney Studios will be hosted by Disney chairman Rich Ross, President of Production Sean Bailey, Chief Creative Officer of Disney and Pixar John Lasseter, and Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige.  Hit the jump for the full schedule.

Schedule D23 Expo’s official website.

TRON: Legacy has underperformed at the box office, but Disney may be close to taking viewers back to the Grid anyway.  AICN reports that the film is close crossing $300 million worldwide, which would be fantastic…had the film and its epic marketing campaign been inexpensive.  Harry Knowles reports that TRON: Legacy “is getting close, incredibly close to having its SEQUEL announced.”

For thoughts on where the potential sequel could go and what’s in store for the TRON franchise, hit the jump.

In the summer of 2008, at Comic-Con, Walt Disney Studios stunned attendees by premiering footage from what appeared to be the sequel to Tron.  While a sequel to Tron had been a rumor for many years, this was the first proof that Disney might be serious.

Since that summer, fans have waited patiently for the return of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges).  But with December 17th just a few days away, the world only has to wait a few more nights to see the grid come back to life with 21st century graphics. As a lifelong fan of Tron, trust me when I say, this is a film that needs to be seen in a theater and I really recommend IMAX 3D as the screen fills up during certain scenes on the grid.  Also, the Daft Punk score is amazing and hearing it in a huge theater with the volume turned up…that’s how it’s meant to be seen.

Anyway, I was able to do video interviews with most of the cast, director Joseph Kosinski, and producer Sean Bailey. Every day this week I’ll be posting a new video interview and up first is Kosinski and Bailey.  Hit the jump for our interview:

Disney has purchased the rights to Radical’s graphic novel Oblivion as a directing vehicle for TRON: Legacy helmer Joseph Kosinski.  Per Heat Vision, “The story is set on a future Earth, where civilization lives above the clouds and scavengers collect ancient artifacts from the polluted surface below. When one young scavenger finds a crashed spacecraft planetside, it lead him on a journey filled with romance and adventure.“  AICN posted the first chapter of the book here.  The full graphic novel is set to be released this fall.

Kosinski has been working with Radical on Oblivion since July 2009 and spent the last year honing the story while finishing up TRON.  Kosinski’s relationship with TRON producer (and now Disney president of production) Sean Bailey helped to land the project at the studio.  Click here to see Steve’s must-watch interview with Bailey.   The deal is reportedly in “in the seven figures and is said to be one the largest rights deals of the year.”  Hit the jump to learn about Kosinski’s other projects and why this deal with Disney is part of a larger trend of studios locking down directors.

When I got to visit the set of Tron: Legacy last year when the production was shooting in Vancouver, one of the people that led us around and gave us valuable information was producer Sean Bailey.

How things have changed.

That’s because since wrapping on Tron: Legacy, Bailey was promoted to President of Production at Walt Disney! The title means he’s one of the key people at Disney that gets to decide what movies get made.  Needless to say, when I found out I was getting the opportunity to interview him at Comic-Con in the End of Line Club, I did my homework.  After all, how often do you get the chance to speak with the head of a studio.  So after the jump you can watch Bailey talk about Tron: Legacy, how Pixar helped on the movie, what are Disney’s future plans, we talk 3D and post conversion, what 3D cameras are being used on Pirates of the Caribbean: On The Stranger Tides,  will Disney land Joseph Kosinski’s Oblivion, does the studio have special plans for the Tron: Legacy Blu-ray, any chance the original Tron could get a 3D makeover or future re-release, and a lot more. It’s a great and very informative interview, check it out:

Disney has sent over a new official image from Tron: Legacy (click for high resolution). If you saw the new trailer that was released yesterday, the image might look familiar. If not, you should really check it out as I thought it was great. For more Tron: Legacy coverage from Comic-Con, here’s our recap of the Tron presentation in Hall H which featured new footage and Joe Kosinski, Sean Bailey, Steven Lisberger, Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen, Bruce Boxleitner and it was moderated by Patton Oswalt.

Until today, no film had ever showed up at Comic-Con for three years running.  TRON: Legacy has now set that record.  And while it’s the movie’s third appearance, it was the first time Con-goers got to see footage from the film.  The first year, the movie blew minds with 2D test footage of a light cycle battle.  How good was that footage? It’s the reason TRON: Legacy even happened.  And while we spent the next year regaining our mind shards, the following year they showed us the same test footage but in 3D, blasting our minds apart once more.

I’m sure you can guess what happened this time around when they showed us eight minutes of the film and a new trailer.  While the Q&As were rough, the new footage was amazing.  And then we got to be part of an incredible experiment that may have yours truly and about 5,999 being heard in the movie.  Read on to learn about the panel that people will be raving about for the rest of the Con.

From what I’m hearing, this might be the biggest Comic-Con yet in terms of Hollywood coming to San Diego to show off upcoming projects.  I’m hearing about so many amazing things that I’m really starting to already get excited – even though amazing things equal huge lines at the Convention.  When I can say more about what I’m hearing…I promise I will.

While I thought we’d have to wait another few weeks to hear about anything official, Walt Disney has just announced (via press release) that Tron: Legacy is going to invade Comic-Con on Thursday, July 22 at 11:15am in Hall H.  On the panel will be filmmakers and talent from the film, including director Joe Kosinski, producers Sean Bailey and Steven Lisberger as wells as cast members Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen and Bruce Boxleitner. The panel discussion, to be moderated by Patton Oswalt, is set to include exclusive glimpses of the film, as well as a Q & A involving all panel participants, along with special surprise guests.  Much more after the jump:

Walt Disney has released a new image of Jeff Bridges from Tron Legacy.  What’s interesting about the image is what’s on his back.  Click on the picture for a high res version.

As I have said many times, the sequel to Tron is one my most anticipated films of 2010.  December is a long way away…but credit to Disney for continuing to release new images and posters on a regular basis.  If you haven’t read the synopsis, hit the jump:

Joseph Kosinski (director) and Sean Bailey (producer) of Tron Legacy, the highly-anticipated sequel to 1982′s Tron, are teaming up again to revisit another Disney sci-fi classic: The Black Hole. The original followed a space expedition that bumps into another craft hovering just outside a black hole, on which the explorers find a scientist who refuses to let them go.  The $26 million feature was Disney’s most expensive at the time, and their first to receive a PG rating.

Though specifics on the project are scant, some aspects will remain the same while others won’t.  Namely, the menacing red robot Maximilian is expected to return, but the science behind black holes featured will be much closer to reality. Whether or not the plot will remain the same is unknown.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, Travis Beacham is writing the project. Beacham is no stranger to remakes, with his Clash of the Titans slated to come out next year.  Kosinski, a commercial director by trade, is making his feature debut with Tron Legacy.  With that film slated for release on December 17, 2010 and Disney anxious to turn it into a serious franchise, it is unknown where The Black Hole would land in between potential Tron Legacy sequels.

“This was a giant, very expensive student film,” joked Jeff Bridges while discussing Disney’s upcoming Tron Legacy. “There was always a feeling of let’s figure it out.” Indeed, it seems that this spirit of pioneering was present through all aspects of the movie as Star Jeff Bridges, Director Joe Kosinski, Producer Sean Bailey, and original Tron Director/Writer Steve Lisberger (along with a few other cast member guests) discussed the future of one of the longest awaited sequels in the nerd culture lexicon. Shooting on Tron Legacy (aka Tr2n, aka Tron 2) may have only wrapped a week ago, but the Tron team had a lot to say about its future. Hit the jump to find out why the stars (and microchips) finally aligned for Tron fans, how Jeff Bridges feels about facing off against his younger self, and how this all these computer characters find their roots in the old west.