The long-awaited fourth entrance at The Matrix franchise is in the works, with a tentative release date of May 21, 2021. Here is the first brand new Matrix movie since The Matrix Revolutions came back in 2003. Details have arisen here and there to give us a notion of what to expect from this gestating sequel while information about the project has been comparatively scarce. Following is a refresher of what we understand.
While the original Matrix trilogy has been handled by both Wachowski sisters, this entry will be helmed by only one. While her sister Lilly won’t Lana will go back to attack the project. Warner Brothers does not seem to be displeased with Lilly’s absence, however. “We could not be more inclined to be reentering The Matrix with Lana,” says Toby Emmerich, the Warner Bros. Picture Group chairman. “Lana is a true visionary a singular and original creative filmmaker and we are thrilled that she’s writing, directing, and creating this fresh chapter in The Matrix world”
Lana is also working on the screenplay, co-writing it using novelists Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell (the latter being the author of Cloud Atlas, which the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer adapted into a movie in 2012). “Many of the thoughts Lilly and I researched 20 years back about our reality are much more relevant now,” Wachowski said in a statement. “I am quite pleased to have these characters back into my life and grateful for another opportunity to work together with my brilliant friends.”
Fans can rest assured that Carrie-Ann Moss and Keanu Reeves will return as Trinity and Neo respectively. Seeing that both characters died in The Matrix Revolutions, its anybody’s guess as to how Lana will revive them but given the string’ farfetched conflation of unlikely technology and mysticism it isn’t too hard to swallow how they could reunite. Neither Laurence Fishburne or Hugo Weaving will be reprising their roles from the first trilogy with this installment. Weaving reportedly was asked by Lana when he’d like to reprise his role of Agent Smith, but his performance run of The See conflicted with the shooting program and they decided to proceed without him.
Plenty of newcomers to the franchise have been cast in the movie. These include Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, Gone Girl), Priyank Chopra Jones (Baywatch, Isn’t It Horrible ), and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (HBO’s Watchmen), Who’s rumored to be playing a younger version of Fishburne’s character Morpheus. As the storyline of the movie, not one of those roles have been revealed.
While the movie still does not have an official name, shortly after its statement, Warner Brothers gave it a release date of May 21, 2021. That release date surely rose eyebrows, as it also happens to be the scheduled release date for another sequel in a favorite action franchise starring Keanu Reeves: John Wick 4. People were quick to inquire if the studio intended for the two movies to compete. Many were believing likely one of the two movies would change its date specifically to avoid such a battle, as not only do the franchises talk about a celebrity, but John Wick director Chad Stahelski was Keanu’s stunt-double in The Matrix, in addition to its stunt coordinator).
Now it is unsure if the Matrix 4 will see its originally scheduled launch. We know that the film’s production has been placed on a halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film could very well lose a launch date because of this.
Pictures of the manufacturing surfaced early last February, when the San Francisco Examiner uploaded images onto their Instagram, taken by photojournalist Amanda Peterson. The pictures have been taken in the area of the city, where both Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves could be seen. While the photos hardly reveal anything important about the movie, they do reveal what Keanu Reeves is going to look like that in the movie… and it looks like Neo is shooting significant fashion and hairstyle tips from John Wick!
Directed by Lana Wachowski, The Matrix 4 stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Henwick and Jonathan Groff. May 21, 2021, the movie is now scheduled to arrive.