The fourth film inThe Matrixfranchise,The Matrix: Resurrections, recently confirmed its title and is due to release this Christmas. Warner Bros. has stepped up its marketing efforts, and the first trailer will be out soon.The Matrix: Resurrectionsis the direct sequel to 2003’sRevolutionsand promises to be an action-packed blockbuster that will satisfy hardcore fans and newcomers alike. But ever since its announcement in 2019, fans have been wondering why Lilly Wachowski, the co-director of 1999’sThe Matrix, didn’t return for this fourth installment.
After all,Lilly Wachowskiand sibling Lana have collaborated on almost all of their projects. So why step back from a sequel to their best-known creation? Well, Lilly answered the question recently, while doing press for her Showtime dramaWork in Progressat the virtual TCA summer tour. Here is what she said.
“That’s a tough one.I got out of my transitionand was just completely exhausted because we had madeCloud AtlasandJupiter Ascending, and the first season ofSense8back-to-back. We were posting one, and prepping the other at the exact same time. So you’re talking about three 100-plus days of shooting for each project, and so, coming out and just being completely exhausted, my world was like, falling apart to some extent even while I was like, you know, cracking out of my egg. So I needed this time away from this industry. I needed to reconnect with myself as an artist and I did that by going back to school and painting and stuff.”
It looks like having to film two big-budget movies and a TV series back-to-back while transitioning took a toll on the acclaimed filmmaker’s mental health. It’s reasonable she’d want to take some time off and do other things. As many would know,Lilly is transgender and identifies as female. Lilly then went into more detail and revealed how there were a few more personal reasons for not doingThe Matrix 4.
“[Lana] had come up with thisidea for another Matrix movie, and we had this talk, and it was actually - we started talking about it in between [our] dad dying and [our] mom dying, which was like five weeks apart. And there was something about the idea of going backward and being a part of something that I had done before that was expressly unappealing. And, like, I didn’t want to have gone through my transition and gone through this massive upheaval in my life, the sense of loss from my mom and dad, to want to go back to something that I had done before, and sort of [walk] over old paths that I had walked in, felt emotionally unfulfilling, and really the opposite - like I was going to go back and live in these old shoes, in a way. And I didn’t want to do that.”
From this statement, it’s safe to say, Lilly has moved on fromThe Matrixand has no plans for returning to the franchise. Though she has givenThe Matrix: Resurrectionsher blessing and even called it “better than the original”. Lilly is currently involved in Showtime’s LGBT drama seriesWork in Progressas a producer and writer. Season 2 ofWork in Progresspremiered on August 22. Also, to make it clear, there is no rift between the siblings, and according to Lilly, the pair may very well collaborate again in the future.
The Matrix: Resurrectionsis set to premiere simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max on 09 August 2025. A trailer has not yet been released but was shown to the audience at CinemaCon and will soon be made available for general audiences.The Matrix: Resurrectionswill mark the return of Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Lambert Smith from previous films, with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Priyanka Chopra, and Christina Ricci joining the cast. This news comes to us fromEntertainment Weekly.
