New “MATRIX 4” RUMORS Surface

When Warner Bros. released “The Matrix” in 1999, they would hit upon a gold mine of a franchise and a pioneer in computer special effects. The story of humans in a machine-ruled post-apocalyptic Earth fighting their oppressors in a virtual environment to save the rest of their species from energy exploitation drew viewers, who stayed because of the epic fights and “bullet time” sequences. For all intents and purposes the “Matrix” film trilogy finished the franchise storyline adequately. But in this decade there has been talk of either making a fourth follow-up or rebooting the movies. And the original creators are rumored to return too.

As IGN tells it, there is one rumor that Lana Wachowski, one half of the Wachowski duo that created “The Matrix,” has been tapped to soon direct a film in Chicago under the working title of “Project Ice Cream,” but is also suspecting of being “The Matrix 4.” A second speculation, and one with more content, would have it that both the Wachowski’s are involved in this movie that is either a sequel or a remake of their masterpiece, and that the first “Matrix” art director Huge Bateup will be serving as the production designer.

Details of course remain really vague considering these are all currently rumors at the moment. One driving question ever since Warner Bros. floated the development of a new “Matrix” movie two years ago in 2017 would be if it were a sequel to the trilogy or reboot. Not even a slip of the tongue from an interview with “John Wick 3” director Chad Stahelski has been able to clear the water of rumors. Stahelski was one of the stunt coordinators for the “Matrix” trilogy and, at the time, also served as stunt double for star Keanu Reeves, whom he also directed in “John Wick 3.”

Stahelski was speaking with Yahoo News UK back in May when he first made mention of the new “Matrix” and the Wachowskis were in on it. Later however he clarified that his pronouncement was only for a hypothetical situation regarding the making of the film, and not a solid confirmation that the franchise creators were revisiting their early-21^st Century cinematic cash cow. It also did not help that Warner Bros. Pictures itself has kept mum.

One small snippet about the fourth “Matrix” film, if it goes into production in earnest, was that it would star Michael B. Jordan, famous from the “Rocky” spinoffs “Creed” 1 and 2, plus “Black Panther” on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No further information is forthcoming.

Image courtesy of Nerdist