Just in time for the 25th anniversary of the 1999 debut of The Matrix, it's official: A fifth installment of the mind-bending sci-fi franchise is officially in the works. Albeit, without the direct involvement of the Wachowskis this time around, while Drew Goddard will write and direct the new movie (there's also, by the way, no word yet about whether Keanu Reeves will be involved).
The news comes as quite a surprise, to say the least, since the franchise was assumed to be finished after the 2021 release of The Matrix Resurrections, which only grossed $159 million worldwide as a result of the pandemic keeping people away from cinemas -- as well as Warner Bros.' controversial "Project Popcorn," which made all of the studio's releases that year available on HBO Max in the US the same day that they hit theaters.
Fans of The Matrix can also take heart that it's not the studio here trying to milk this franchise to death, but rather Goddard who stepped up with a new idea.
“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,” reads a statement from Warner Bros. Motion Pictures president of production Jesse Ehrman.
“The entire team at Warner Bros. Discovery is thrilled for Drew to be making his new Matrix film, adding his vision to the cinematic canon the Wachowskis’ spent a quarter of a century building here at the studio.”
To this day, there are still so many scenes from that first Matrix movie that continue to resonate for me and opened my eyes to what a cutting-edge sci-fi masterpiece could do. From the slow-motion gunfights to the Matrix code everywhere, the Agents constantly re-spawning, and even quieter moments like the "there is no spoon" scene, I certainly wore the heck out of my VHS player watching and re-watching it.
I said all that to say: If anyone can pick up this ball and run with it here, it's Goddard. The man has serious pop culture and sci-fi cred, having written the monster movie Cloverfield and starting off his writing career on the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and later moving on to TV projects like Alias and Lost as well as bigger movies like The Martian and Cabin in the Woods. We're ready for that red pill again, Drew -- show us how deep the rabbit hole goes.
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