Three and a half years after Matrix Resurrections, Warner Bros. Discovery has just made a new Matrix project official. And the least we can say is that it's scary...
On the way to Matrix 5
Since its first installment hit theaters in 1999, the Matrix saga has become one of the greatest works of contemporary science fiction. While for many viewers, the first Matrix outclasses the three subsequent sequels, the Wachowskis have managed to deliver a thrilling saga with consistently fun action scenes, to the point that the saga as a whole remains a monument to cyberpunk (it also appears in our ranking of the best works of the genre).
Released in 2021, the fourth Matrix Resurrections film, written and directed by Lana Wachowski, is a meta film that deconstructs Hollywood by mocking the blockbuster economic system. While the action is less pronounced than in the three previous installments, the film remains as clever as it is moving. However, the film was a real box office failure, grossing only $157 million against an estimated budget of $190 million. (Let's not forget that the feature film was released in the middle of the Covid-19 period and that many blockbusters have suffered a similar fate.)
However, despite this monumental failure, Warner does not intend to abandon its cyberpunk saga, even if it means involving the Wachowskis. In an interview with the highly respected American media outlet Deadline, Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, the co-CEOs of the group's film subsidiary, confirmed that a film written and directed by Drew Goddard was in development. As a reminder, Goddard is best known for directing The Cabin in the Woods and Bad Times at the El Royale. He is also the screenwriter for Matt Reeves' Cloverfield, Marc Forster's World War Z, and Ridley Scott's The Martian. He was also the showrunner for Netflix's Daredevil series. In April 2024, Warner Bros. announced in Variety that Drew Goddard was working on a Matrix film; However, the disastrous failures of George Miller's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Todd Phillips' Joker: A Mad Max Story, and Bong Joon-ho's Mickey Mouse have seriously undermined the studio's financial position. Bloomberg recently reported that David Zaslav, the head of Warner Bros. Discovery, is furious with the two directors of the film division, whom he is reportedly seeking to fire and replace. However, this project for a fifth Matrix film would not be threatened, since it was confirmed by Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy.
For now, we don't know what this fifth installment might look like. However, a strange post published on January 6 by Will Smith on Instagram appears to be an interesting clue. "In 1997, the Wachowskis offered Will Smith the role of Neo in The Matrix. Smith turned it down. He chose Wild Wild West, believing it was a better fit for him at the time. But the question remains: what would The Matrix have looked like with Will Smith as Neo? Wake up, Will..." From there to seeing the pitch for The Matrix 5 validated by Warner Bros., it's only a small step, isn't it?
In any case, the absence of the Wachowskis is reason enough to worry fans. Especially since this project reflects more of Warner Bros.' strategy. Discovery's strategy of relying on its strongest licenses (Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, DC Comics) rather than on the wishes of its authors. In this respect, the Matrix 5 project seems to go against Lana Wachowski's message in The Matrix Resurrections. We hope that with this new installment, Warner Bros. will not betray its legacy...
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