The Get-Down and Aquaman actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will take a key role in the pending fourth installment of The Matrix saga. Lana Wachowski will return this time to direct in a solo capacity as announced by Warner Bros. Pictures Chairman Toby Emmerich back in August.
The original trilogy earned $1.6 billion dollars at the box office centered on Keanu Reeves as venerable “chosen one” in mankind’s long and winding tale of harrowing survival against an autonomous, mechanized onslaught that imprisons mankind through a virtual world known as The Matrix.
Reeves and original franchise co-headliner Carrie-Anne Moss will both reprise their roles joining Abdul-Mateen II from a script by Wachowski, and co-writers Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell. As Justin Kroll at Variety notes, production is expected to begin early 2020 with Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures producing and globally releasing the film.
I won’t even go into the plot rumors that have been stirring about in the years since post-trilogy chatter began. It’s good news though that the studio has its momentum with this and some fans can now take heed to their knowledge that a new story is on the horizon regardless of how much sense it may or may not make with the return of its key stars. It’s interesting, really.
Abdul-Mateen II is next expected to appear in Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial Of The Chicago 7, and Nia DeCosta’s Jordan Peele-produced Candyman revival in 2020.