‘Matrix 4’ Gets an Official Title

Matrix fans have long been waiting for the fourth installment of the action-movie franchise, and now the upcoming film has an official title. The Wrap reports that the new movie is titled The Matrix: Resurrections. The outlet also noted that the first trailer for the new film debuted this past weekend at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Nevada. There is no word on when the trailer may become available for wider audiences to view.

The Matrix: Resurrections sees Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss return as Neo and Trinity, respectively, reprising their roles from the first three Matrix films: The Matrix (1999), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), and The Matrix Revolutions (2003). Other returning cast members include Jada Pinkett Smith, Lambert Wilson and Daniel Bernhardt. The film will also include a number of newcomers to the Matrix franchise, such as Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Toby Onwumere, Max Riemelt, Eréndira Ibarra, Priyanka Chopra, Andrew Caldwell, Brian J. Smith, Ellen Hollman and Christina Ricci.

The first three Matrix films were written and directed by Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski. Only Lana returns to direct The Matrix: Resurrections, from a script she wrote with Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell. The movie is produced by Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow and is set to be released on Dec. 22. It will be available for HBO Max subscribers to stream the same day as its theatrical release.

Earlier this year, Harris spoke with IndieWire about working on The Matrix: Resurrections, and he shared some details about Lana Wachowski’s unconventional filmmaking methods “It didn’t feel large because it felt like she was in her sweet spot, which was filming on the fly, filming using natural light,” the former How I Met Your Mother star said. “Sometimes you’d sit around for an hour waiting for the clouds to clear, and then you’d quickly film.”

Harris went on to say, “You’d film pages at a time in 30 minutes and then be done. You would think that a giant movie would be 100% storyboarded, animatics, and we’d be checking off shots. I think she lived that before three times over, and I would suspect that she wants to do things her own way now. It wasn’t often that you felt that you were doing something gigantic because she made it feel very intimate.”