Thomas Bangalter Says Scoring 'Tron: Legacy' Was 'Depressing' Despite 19 Months of Work

Thomas Bangalter has opened up about one of the more surprising chapters of the Daft Punk catalog: the duo's score for Disney's 2010 sci-fi film Tron: Legacy. Speaking on the latest episode of the A24 Podcast with host Dev Hynes (better known as Blood Orange), Bangalter called the experience "depressing" and described it as heavily restricted. It's a rare detailed look back at the Daft Punk era from Bangalter himself.

What Bangalter Said

According to Bangalter, director Joseph Kosinski originally wanted Daft Punk to deliver an all-electronic score, but the duo had other ideas. "We're going to Hollywood, we're going to use a whole orchestra, like Fantasia — this is Disney!" Bangalter recalled thinking at the time. The pair ultimately settled on a hybrid: orchestra combined with electronic elements.

Once the music actually had to sync with picture, the problems piled up. Bangalter told DJ Mag that midrange sounds kept clashing with dialogue, leaving only low-end pulsing bass usable in the final mix. The synth textures they'd designed, along with a whole vintage modular setup, were scrapped entirely. "I had all these ideas, but the nature of film scoring is that you step back and serve the picture — you can't steal the scene," he said. "When you have that many ideas and you have to fall back on something more traditional, it's always depressing."

Daft Punk spent 19 months completing the Tron: Legacy score. They never took on another film soundtrack after it.

What Bangalter Is Doing Now

Bangalter has been focused on solo work since 2022. He recently released a new album, Mirage: Ballet for 16 Dancers, and in an interview last month ruled out any Daft Punk reunion.

Source: Far Out Magazine, citing the original A24 Podcast interview.