While fans await the release of the fourth film in The Matrix franchise, Warner Bros studio has announced the sci-fi film's official title. The film is titled Matrix 4: Resurrections and directed by Lana Wachowski, one of the siblings who wrote and directed all the films in the The Matrix Trilogy. Carrie-Anne Moss and Neil Patrick Harris also star in the film alongside Keanu Reeves.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio also screened the trailer of the film at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, which is “the largest gathering of movie theatre owners from around the world.” However, the trailer hasn't been release online yet.
The Warner Bros Studios had announced that several of their films slated to release in 2021 will release simultaneously in theatres and on OTT services like HBO Max, owned by Warner Media. The decision to showcase the Resurrections trailer at CinemaCon can be seen as an attempt to assure the exhibition industry that the company is still committed to theatrical releases.
According to a report in Deadline, the trailer begins with Neil Patrick Harris (playing a therapist) talking to Keanu Reeves’ character (Thomas Anderson, not Neo). “I had dreams that weren’t just dreams. Am I crazy?” asks Anderson, and Harris' character responds, “We don’t use that word in here."
Thomas Anderson seemingly had no memory of ‘The Matrix’ but somehow started to realise that something wasn’t right with the world.
He eventually bumps into a woman, played by Carrie-Ann Moss, at a coffee shop. They shake hands but don’t remember each other, and neither does Moss have any memory of her life as Trinity. Anderson becomes more skeptical about those around him since they're glued to their phones, as he took prescription blue pills.
After a while, Reeves’ character finds a mysterious man played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II who is reminiscent of Morpheus, the freedom fighter played by Laurence Fishburne in the original trilogy. He gives Anderson a red pill, parallel to the franchise’s premise, and soon the footage of him with powers, seeing The Matrix for the fake reality that it is, plays out.
Other than The Matrix: Resurrections, CinemaCon also screened some of Warner Bros’ other big-ticket films like The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson, Denis Villeneuve’s take on Dune, James Wan’s Malignant, Clint Eastwood’s Neo-Western Cry Macho, The Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark and King Richard, starring Will Smith.
Based on a deal made public earlier this month, Warner Bros will resume giving films an exclusive theatrical window next year, with its 2022 slate going into cinema halls for 45 days. Although, their upcoming DC superhero films like Batgirl and Blue Beetle will directly stream on HBO Max.
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