‘The Matrix 4’ Official Title and Footage Unveiled at CinemaCon 2021

Neo returns.

neo-matrix-keanu-reeves
Warner Bros.

It’s official—The Matrix trilogy is picking up where it left off. The fourth movie’s title—announced at CinemaCon in Las Vegas—is The Matrix Resurrections. That’s pretty much in line with movies two and three of the series, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.

While the title announcement was accompanied by footage from the movie, that video isn’t publicly available yet, unless there’s some shaky pirated footage floating around out there on social media. 

Among CinemaCon 2021 attendees there were plenty of people ready to relate what’s in the Resurrections footage in detail. Here’s Deadline’s account:

The trailer begins with Neil Patrick Harris talking to Keanu Reeves’ Neo. A near future San Francisco. It appears that Neo is trapped in a humdrum world, much like his first self in the 1999 movie. He’s just not getting his surroundings.

“Am I crazy?” asks Reeves’ Neo. “We don’t use that word in here,” says Harris’ therapist. Reeves comes in contact with Carrie Anne Moss’ Trinity in a cafe: “Have we met?” she asks Neo.

A shot of blue pills spilling into a sink, as Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” song plays. Then a shot of Neo distorting into an old man in the mirror. A younger Morpheus tells Neo “time to fly,” handing him a red pill. Then a lot of jumping, a lot of twists in midair, karate and all the acrobats we expect from a Matrix movie.

That hits a lot of classic Matrix imagery, and reports indicate the sleek visual style that made the first three movies so distinctive is in evidence as well.

The Matrix Resurrections was written by Lana Wachowski (sister Lilly wasn’t directly involved in this production), David Mitchell, and Aleksandar Hemon. The movie was directed by Wachowski and in addition to Keanu Reeves returning as Neo and Carrie Anne Moss as Trinity, Resurrections will bring back Jada Pinkett Smith as Niobe and Lambert Wilson as The Merovingian. 

Along with Neil Patrick Harris, new cast members include Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Christina Ricci.

The Matrix Resurrections is set to hit theaters on December 22, 2021.  

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