On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Wachowski sibs’ hit movie, The Matrix, a fourth installment is officially underway according to Variety. Lana Wachowski is penning and directing the film with scripting also by Aleksander Hemon and David Mitchell.
Production commences early next year with actor Keanu Reeves and actress Carrie-Anne Moss set to reprise their roles as Neo and Trinity, respectively. Wachowski will also produce with Grant Hill for the fourth film – a project that has long stewed online since the 1999 film became a franchise winner for Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow.
“We could not be more excited to be re-entering the Matrix with Lana,” said Emmerich. “Lana is a true visionary — a singular and original creative filmmaker — and we are thrilled that she is writing, directing and producing this new chapter in ‘The Matrix’ universe.”
“Many of the ideas Lilly and I explored 20 years ago about our reality are even more relevant now. I’m very happy to have these characters back in my life and grateful for another chance to work with my brilliant friends,” Wachowski said.
Lana and sister Lilly Wachowski (then brothers Larry and Andy) shepherded the franchise with The Matrix, opening the film on March 31, 1999. The film proved to be an innovative game changer for its stunning visuals (i.e. “bullet time” a la Blade), transformative storytelling, and award-winning action Yuen Woo-Ping’s applications of martial arts and high-flying action building on the successes of kung fu hits such as Iron Monkey and Fist Of Legend.
Pre-production saw the cast committ to extensive literary research in order to understand the depth and overall meaning and vision of the story. Reeves, already a household name following hits like Speed and Point Break, plays Thomas Anderson, a low-key computer hacker who goes by the name, Neo. Recruited by a legendary freedom fighter named Trinity (Moss) and aided by elusive warrior and human resistance leader, Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne), Neo becomes the centrifugal key figure in an epic, longstanding battle between man and machine in both the real and digital world opposite punishingly pugilistic virtual nemesis, Smith (Hugo Weaving).
Prior to its trilogy fruition and subsequent potential talks these days of a reboot, The Matrix took box office earnings of more than $463 million dollars and ultimately won four Academy Awards, including Best Sound. Sequels followed suit in 2003 with The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, earning the trilogy a box office total of $1.6 billion dollars.
There’s been tons of talk with Michael B. Jordan’s imvolvment over the years as well and while those still likely bode as rumors, things could change overtime; the Creed and Creed 2 star has been busy working via his banner partaking in forthcoming television series, Raising Dion, and filming upcoming legal drama, Just Mercy, while prepping two Tom Clancy novel adaptations, namely Without Remorse and Rainbow Six.
Moss’ recent appearances have prominently included a recurring role as legal eagle Jeri Hogarth in Netflix/Marvel collabs Daredevil, Iron Fist, The Defenders and all three seasons of Jessica Jones. Reeves has had banner year this year with his current return to form in Dean Parisot’s Bill & Ted Face The Music (2020), and in Chad Staheski’s fourth installmemt of the John Wick saga (2021).
The Matrix, the inaugral hit cyberpunk epic, will celebrate its 20th anniversary with special screenings at select AMC locations starting on August 30.
