Surprising announcement
A new “Matrix” installment is in development
Keanu Reeves in “The Matrix Resurrections”, alongside “Matrix 5” director and screenwriter Drew Goddard.
© carrie-nelson/ImageCollect/imago images/Picturelux/Murray Close/Warner Bros./The Hollywood Archive
A fifth “Matrix” film is in development at Warner Bros. Drew Goddard takes over as director from Lana Wachowski.
Almost exactly 25 years to the day after the release of the sci-fi classic “The Matrix,” the film studio Warner Bros. is planning a continuation of the legendary franchise. Like, among other things The US industry magazine “Variety” reports that “Matrix 5” is in development. For the first time, a “Matrix” part will not be directed by Lana (58) or Lilly Wachowski (56).
Drew Goddard to direct “Matrix 5”
The Wachowski siblings directed the first three “Matrix” films together. Lana Wachowski was the sole director of the financially disappointing “Matrix Resurrections” from 2021. For “Matrix 5”, however, Drew Goddard (49), the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of the sci-fi film “The Martian”, is now taking over the directing position.
Goddard, who has worked as a screenwriter in the past for several series such as “Marvel’s Daredevil”, “Lost” and “Alias - The Agent”, will also write the script for the new “Matrix” part. “Matrix 4” director Lana Wachowski remains attached to the project as an executive producer.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that the ‘Matrix’ films have changed both cinema and my life. Lana and Lilly’s exquisite art inspires me daily, and I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to be part of their world’s stories to tell,” explained the director and screenwriter of the new “Matrix” part in a statement.
Is Keanu Reeves returning?
At such an early stage in the development of “Matrix 5”, it is unclear whether stars Keanu Reeves (played Neo, 59) and Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity, 56) will also return. Morpheus actor Laurence Fishburne (62) had already been replaced in “Matrix Resurrections” by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (37), who took over his role. A release date or details about the story of the new “Matrix” film are not yet known.