Is Tron: Legacy this year's Avatar? (Those skintight, light-up Tron suits are the hottest cos-play item since Na'vi chic, after all.) Filmed using next-gen technology, packed with cool gadgets, rides, fembots galore and boasting not one but two versions of Jeff Bridges, the long-awaited sequel just outgrossed the original in one weekend.
So whether you're a closet Tron nerd or just dying to see up-and-comer Garrett Hedlund and hottie Olivia Wilde run amok on the digital world known as The Grid with Oscar winner Bridges, here are five things you've got to know about Tron: Legacy.
1. Jeff Bridges, Star of 1982's Tron, Enjoyed a Digital Face-Lift: While Bridges not only reprises his role as the now-middle-aged software programmer Kevin Flynn, he also plays a version of Flynn's digital doppelgnger, Clu. Only thing is, this version of the once-helpful program has grown resentful over the years and is now bent on breaking out of The Grid to take over the real world. To play Clu 2, Bridges was outfitted with cutting-edge gear that allowed the filmmaker to capture his performance and then de-aged him back to his 1980s' Against All Odds period in post production.
2. Nearly 30 Later, Flynn Has Become...The Dude? Years upon years trapped in The Grid has changed Kevin Flynn so much that he's turned into a version of Bridges' laid-back character from The Big Lebowski. (He makes exclamations like "It's bio-digital jazz, man!" and meditates in his secret hideaway. Even in computer land, The Dude abides.)
3. Light-Cycles Are Real! Kinda: Architect-turned-director Joseph Kosinski spent years on the futuristic visual designs of his updated Tron, a completely virtual world in which humanoid programs whirl around on sleek, curvy motorbike-like light-cycles. Thanks to custom bike shop Parker Bros. Choppers in Melbourne, Fla., you can ride around the real world in a fully functional, street-legal light-cycle. It'll only cost you $55,000--a small price to pay for the instantaneous boost in geek cred, natch.
4. Olivia Wilde Wants Little Girls to Dress Up Like Her for Halloween: Expect to see those battery-powered light-up latex suits on trick-or-treaters everywhere next October, if the sexy starlet has any say in the matter--but not just because they look cool. Wilde, who collaborated in designing the look of her naive but lethal character Quorra, hopes that young girls will take inspiration from Quorra's strength and compassion. "When I was little, I dressed up as Wonder Woman, and Wonder Woman represented social justice and honesty," explained Wilde. "And now I'm not sure who [little girls] dress up as." Hopefully, they'll have this option next year.
5. Tron: Legacy Contains Subtle Messages From the Buddha: Bridges brought onboard his own personal Buddhist advisor, Zen master Bernie Glassman, to help shape his character's demeanor. "Flynn has discovered that the more he goes against Clu, the more powerful [Clu] becomes, so he's kind of retreated and gotten into a place of acceptance for the way it is--to such a degree that it's almost paralyzed him," said Bridges, a practitioner of socially engaged Buddhism. Bridges himself recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to advocate for the No Child Hungry campaign and names his increased post-Oscar celebrity as an asset in helping get the word out for his charitable causes.