Fans are not delighted with the announcement of a fifth Matrix film.
It’s been 25 years since Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss debuted as Neo and Trinity in the 1999 blockbuster, which also starred Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving.
They were most recently seen in the 2021 sequel The Matrix Resurrections, alongside Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra, Christina Ricci, and Jada Pinkett Smith.
Warner Brothers executives have stated that a sequel would be released shortly, sans directors Lana and Lilly Wachowski for the first time.
While Lana serves as executive producer, Drew Goddard has taken over as director, screenplay, and producer.
There are no other information about the narrative or whether Keanu, who is now filming for Outcome in Los Angeles, and co. will return for another future adventure.
‘Drew came to Warner Bros. with a new idea that we all believe would be an incredible way to continue the Matrix world, by both honoring what Lana and Lilly began over 25 years ago and offering a unique perspective based on his own love of the series and characters,’ Jesse Ehrman – the WB president of production – said in a statement via Entertainment Weekly.
‘The entire team at Warner Bros. Discovery is thrilled for Drew to be making this new Matrix film, adding his vision to the cinematic canon the Wachowskis’ spent a quarter of a century building here at the studio.’
‘It is not hyperbole to say The Matrix films changed both cinema and my life,’ Drew added. ‘Lana and Lilly’s exquisite artistry inspires me on a daily basis, and I am beyond grateful for the chance to tell stories in their world.’
Despite the franchise’s great success, film fans were less than delighted with the possibility of another sequel.
Unpacking the announcement on Reddit, Alive-Ad-5245 penned: ‘I’m happy but actually shocked. I was certain that WB were going to park this franchise in the garage for at least a decade after The Matrix Resurrections bombed.’
Stonewalled89 agreed: ‘As the three Matrix sequels have proven, you can’t recapture the lightning in the bottle that was the first Matrix. Unfortunately, as long as there’s money to be made, people will still try.’
KingMario05 begged: ‘OH MY GOD JUST LET IT DIE.’
As AngryDuck222 added: ‘Nah, the last one made its point very clear. We don’t need anymore. The original 3 were more than enough.’
Keanu originally appeared as Thomas ‘Neo’ Anderson in the first Matrix film in 1999, and he repeated his character in the ensuing sequels – the Matrix Reloaded in 2003, the Matrix Revolutions later that year, and the 2021 blockbuster, the Matrix Resurrections.
According to sources, he made more than $156 million for his role as Neo throughout the trilogy, which isn’t too bad.
Despite being one of the most renowned actors and proudly holding the title of the internet’s spouse, the Speed icon prefers to stay out of the spotlight as much as possible.
Freema Agyeman, who acted in the fourth Matrix film, revealed that Keanu is a ‘very zen’ actor.
‘I don’t know how much is known about him in the public sphere, so I won’t go on and on, but he’s very zen, that comes across I think,’ she told Metro.co.uk, confessing she was ‘starstruck’ by her colleague.
‘There would be moments where he would just be meditating on set and we’d go and make a beeline for him but we’d be like, “No, don’t encroach on his space. Respect that”.
‘We had good interaction on set but the time we had the best interaction was offset on a night out with all of us. The whole cast went.
‘And [Keanu] was everything I’d hoped he would be. What a beautiful man.’
Fingers crossed they can have a reunion very soon…