The film received generally positive reviews from critics but was a box-office disappointment, grossing only $159 million worldwide against a production budget of $190 million. It received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 75th British Academy Film Awards. A sequel is currently in development.
The absence of Lawrence Fishburne as Morpheus in The Matrix 4 frustrated fans who adored his portrayal of the character in the previous films. The Matrix Resurrections had lower stakes and a more somber tone compared to the original trilogy, which may have turned audiences off from the movie.
Warner Bros. has officially confirmed the development of "Matrix 5," marking a significant return to the iconic sci-fi franchise. This upcoming installment will be the first without the directing duo, Lana and Lily Wachowski, who have been instrumental in shaping the series since its inception.
This is not the next huge chapter in The Matrix saga. However, it's very enjoyable return that has some meta fun with itself. If you you love this world and have a yearning for seeing Neo and Trinity again you'll have a good time. Just don't go in looking for more than that.
Screenwriter John August has diagnosed that the problem with the Matrix sequels was that they were “playing obscurity for depth”, i.e. obfuscating the internal logic of the characters' choices in order to make the audience fearful of dismissing it, just in case they were missing something that they just didn't get.
The Matrix 5 in 2026!? Everything You Need to Know! | MATRIX EXPLAINED
Did Will Smith reject Matrix?
In fact, Smith turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix to star in the critically panned western adaptation. His decision leaves many spectators wondering why he chose not to take on a role that's now considered iconic in both the sci-fi and action genres.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Egyptian censors have ruled against the film, stating its excessive violence and religious themes as reason for the decision.
Fishburne, who played Morpheus in the original trilogy opposite Reeves, 58, and Moss, 55, previously spoke to New York Magazine and said he had "not been invited" to reprise his role.
Morpheus died in The Matrix Online, a game that is part of the “Matrix Expanded Universe” and is considered Matrix canon. Therefore, Morpheus' death could not be ignored in The Matrix Resurrections. As for Agent Smith, Hugo Weaving could not return for The Matrix Resurrections due to scheduling conflicts.
Parents need to know that The Matrix Resurrections is the long-awaited (but underwhelming) fourth Matrix movie, the first since 2003's The Matrix Revolutions. Expect effects-heavy action violence, including lots of guns and shooting; fighting, kicking, and punching; bloody wounds (a throat…
The Matrix is an American cyberpunk media franchise consisting of four feature films, beginning with The Matrix (1999) and continuing with three sequels, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions (both 2003), and The Matrix Resurrections (2021).
The Matrix Revolutions shifted the bulk of the focus from the Matrix to the real world, and the conflict taking place in Zion. This was a mistake that robbed the narrative of its most ingenious plot device. When the action finally does revert back to the Matrix, the magic is already gone.
The fourth and final film, “The Matrix Resurrections,” directed by one of the Wachowski sisters, Lana, was released toward the end of 2021. In addition to the films, the Matrix franchise includes an animated series of nine short stories that occur at various points in the Matrix timeline.
Instead, Weaving's absence comes down to a Hollywood staple: scheduling conflicts. As Weaving told Collider in 2020, when it came time to make The Matrix Resurrections, director and co-writer Lana Wachowski very much wanted him to return as Agent Smith.
Though Reeves and Moss return as Neo and Trinity, their former co-stars Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving do not come back as Mopheus and Agent Smith – reportedly, because Lana Wachowski did not ask them to be in the film.
In the fourth film The Matrix Resurrections, a new version of Morpheus, originally a program subconsciously created by a suppressed Neo as part of a modal based upon his memories, is released by Bugs from the Matrix. Initially, Morpheus is an amalgamation of Neo's memories of Agent Smith and Morpheus.
Morpheus is one of the main protagonists of The Matrix franchise. Morpheus is a Redpill Resistance operative who serves in Zion's defense force as captain of the Nebuchadnezzar. He believes in the Prophecy and devotes "all of his life" in search of The One, the destined human who will bring an end to the Machine War.
At the same time, Smith develops an animosity towards the Matrix itself, feeling that he is as much a prisoner of it as the humans he is tasked with controlling. He later develops an immense and increasingly open desire for the destruction of both mankind and machines.
Parents need to know that The Matrix Reloaded is the second film in the Matrix sci-fi triology. It has intense and prolonged sci-fi violence and peril, including fights, car chases/crashes, guns, and martial arts. Characters are killed (sometimes more than once).
The Wachowskis explained part of their rationale for using hard line phones in fan Q&A in 2002 (via Matrix Fans): "We felt that the amount of information that was being sent into the Matrix required a significant portal. Those portals, we felt, were better described with the hard lines rather than cell lines.
