“The Matrix” Japanese Theatrical Poster
A reboot of the highly successful 1999 sci-fi film The Matrix is brewing at Warner Bros. According to THR, Zak Penn (Ready Player One) is in talks to pen the screenplay and the studio is eyeing Michael B. Jordan (Creed) for the lead role made popular by Keanu Reeves (John Wick 2). There are currently no directors attached.
“At this point, the Wachowski siblings, who wrote and directed the original and its two sequels, are not involved and the nature of their potential engagement with a new version has not been determined,” THR reported.
The Matrix centered around a computer hacker (Reeves) who learns about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers. The film spawned two sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, both of which were released in 2003.
The films were known for their originality, cutting edge special effects (origin of the slow-motion “bullet time” effect) and of course, their fast-paced martial arts sequences, which put choreographer Yuen Woo-ping (Dance of the Drunken Mantis) on the Hollywood map.
Updates: According to BMD, Warner is not interested in rebooting The Matrix, but rather in exploring expanded universe concepts. And according to two independent sources BMD has spoken with, one idea that’s gained a lot of support is a prequel film starring Michael B. Jordan as a young Morpheus.
Perhaps to only Western audiences does The Matrix movie seem original. Nothing original about it that I saw. A re-imaging of Ghost in the Shell meets The Invisibles. Certainly not the origin of “Bullet Time”, as that had already been used in commercials and even in the Van Halen video, Without You (1998). Action scenes stolen from John Woo`s visual style. The only thing it really managed to do was get Yuen Woo-ping some good jobs in Hollywood. Otherwise, I think that The Matrix movies were good movies but just not the “original” landmarks that so many in the West think they are.