It's been several months since we first heard about potential plans to reboot The Matrix, but now screenwriter Zak Penn has spoken out about the project and where it currently stands. It seems quite clear that Penn will be a driving force behind this new franchise as he clearly loves The Matrix and seems quite committed to seeing this new movie (or movies) get made. According to Penn...
I've been working on Matrix right now. Which is in... a phase right now. That's a franchise I desperately want to see brought back and, I can't go in to too much detail, but I've been harassing Warner Bros. for years to try to get it going again so that's one thing I'm working on and I've been working on a bunch of other things too.
It's been about a year since the word first came out that Warner Bros. was looking at potentially rebooting The Matrix and was already eyeing Michael B. Jordan as a potential lead. It's been pretty quiet since then, but Zak Penn confirms to ScreenRant that he is still very much involved in the potential new movie. He's a bit vague as to the status, simply saying the movie is in "a phase," but even if the project is stuck in some level of development hell, Penn makes it clear that he's going to work to help this one see the light of day.
Zak Penn is also a bit vague on what a new Matrix movie would actually be, though he does say a new Matrix film "could go in so many different directions" which would seem to imply that he's not necessarily looking at a movie that would retell the story we've already seen, but one that could create a story of entirely new characters in a new corner of the AI created simulation or the real world that surrounds it. This fits with what was originally revealed when the project first came to light.
Zak Penn has spent a lot of time writing about virtual worlds apparently. He's the screenwriter of the upcoming Ready Player One, a movie which clearly took some inspiration from The Matrix in the way it created a virtual world where people interacted. Of course, in RPO, people are well aware that they're inside a simulation, and they choose to be inside it, as opposed to The Matrix where people are imprisoned, and most aren't even aware of it.
While it seems that a future Matrix movie may not be a foregone conclusion, there is still at least one person who is dedicated to seeing it happen. Stay tuned to Cinemablend for any news on the the potential film
