Back in May, John Wick 3 director Chad Stahelski, whose film stars The Matrix alum Keanu Reeves as an international assassin with a soft spot for puppies, claimed that the Wachowskis were working on a fourth Matrix film. A few places picked up Stahelski’s quote and ran with it, but aside from a minor flash in the pan, nothing else came of it. Or, at least that was until Tuesday’s news that Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Lana Wachowski were, in fact, working on Matrix 4.
According to Variety, Reeves and Moss will reprise their original roles of Neo and Trinity respectively, while Wachowski will write and direct the followup to the original trilogy of films. Sources tell the trade publication that production is set to begin in earnest in early 2020. While no specific mention of Laurence Fishburne was made, though, the character of Morpheus will reportedly still be a part of the sequel as “some sources say the role may be recast for a younger take.”
In a statement, Wachowski said, “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.” Warner Bros. Group chairman Toby Emmerich added that the studio was “excited to be re-entering the Matrix with Lana,” who he described as a “true visionary” and a “singular and original creative filmmaker.”
While discussing the Matrix trilogy’s impact on her own life and on popular culture, Moss recent told Uproxx that the films have “never been more relevant”:
I just think they’re just so deep and meaningful and have such relevance to what we’re dealing with right now with the way that we’re being manipulated by our phones and by technology and by the news outlets and the media that I’m reading and the media that you’re reading. And I’m constantly looking at “what are we a slave to?” “Who’s controlling my thoughts and my ideas?” “Am I being used by a system that doesn’t care about me?” And I think The Matrix really stood for that and really opened our eyes to that at a time when we could only think that would happen, and now, we’re actually living it.
The question is, which colored pill will Neo and company be downing this time?
(Via Variety)
