“The Matrix” is returning to screens, with the fourth film in the franchise greenlit at Warner Bros, the company’s chairman Toby Emmerich announced Tuesday. Stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are returning in their original roles as Neo and Trinity, with Lana Wachowski set to write and direct the film.
Wachowski will also produce the film along with Grant Hill that Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures will produce and distribute globally. She is writing the screenplay for “The Matrix 4” with Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell.
“We could not be more excited to be re-entering ‘The Matrix’ with Lana,” Emmerich said in a statement. “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,” Wachowski said in a statement. “I’m very happy to have these characters back in my life and grateful for another chance to work with my brilliant friends.”
“The Matrix” films told the story of an office drone and computer hacker played by Keanu Reeves who discovered that the reality in which he lived was actually a massive computer simulation run by alien overlords who had enslaved humanity. Upon awaking from his former reality within the simulation known as The Matrix, he teams up with a group of rebels and fulfill a prophecy that he is The One who will free humanity. The original 1999 film proved to be not only a massive box office success but a hugely influential action and sci fi film that have spawned countless followers and copycats.
The three previous films in the franchise – “The Matrix” from 1999, “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions” both from 2003 – have earned more than $1.6 billion at the global box office and were all Top-10 domestic hits in their respective years of release. “The Matrix Revolutions” was also the first film ever to release simultaneously in every major country at the same hour around the world.
The original “Matrix” film starring Reeves, Moss, Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and AMC Theaters is holding special anniversary screenings at select locations beginning Aug. 30.
Wachowski is represented by WME, Circle of Confusion and attorney Peter Grossman. Reeves is represented by WME and Ziffren Brittenham. Moss is represented by WME, longtime manager Elizabeth Hodgson and attorney Bob Lange.