It looks like it's the end of the line for the Tron franchise - Disney has decided against moving ahead with the third instalment of the sci-fi series.

The news comes after it was revealed that Tron: Legacy stars Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde, along with director Joseph Kosinski, were set to reprise their roles for the new film.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, preparations for filming were already underway in Vancouver before Disney pulled the plug on the project.

The company is reported to want to instead focus on the live adaptation of its animated classics, including the Emma Watson and Dan Stevens version of Beauty and the Beast, following the success of recent hits Cinderella and Maleficent.

2010's Tron: Legacy brought the franchise to a whole new generation of fans, taking roughly $400 million worldwide and spawning the animated series Tron: Uprising, which aired from 2012 to 2013 on Disney .

The cancellation comes after Disney's most recent sci-fi film Tomorrowland underperformed at the US box office last weekend.