- The Matrix movie franchise is finally getting a long-awaited fourth installment, Matrix 4, which had been set to open in May of 2021 — though that date may get pushed back because of having to pause filming during the coronavirus pandemic.
- The film’s stunt coordinators have given a new interview in which they promise that fans who loved the original trilogy are “gonna love this” too.
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Fans of the original Matrix movie trilogy haven’t exactly been keeping their powder dry and adopting a wait-and-see attitude about whether the long-awaited fourth installment in the franchise will be any good. Pre-coronavirus, you only had to open Facebook or Twitter and do a quick search to be met with a flood of breathless posts from users positively giddy over the images and few seconds of hastily-snapped footage they captured on-set, back when Matrix 4 was still shooting in and around San Francisco, which back in February was briefly home to a dystopian-looking movie set that featured everything from explosions and wrecked cars to melted city lamps nearby.
Actor sightings. Scenes filmed amid downtown San Francisco skyscrapers. It was still a few weeks before the coronavirus changed everything, and what a happy time that was.
In the footage below posted to Twitter, for example, someone who identifies herself as a LinkedIn events and program manager says she was so close to the action she could feel the heat from the explosion. Towards the end of the clip, you can hear someone off-camera yell out: “Whoaaaaa! DAMN, that was cool!”
Sneak peak of the action — the choppers flew right above our heads and we could feel the heat from the explosion. 5/21/21 needs to come sooner! 🚁💥 #matrix4 #matrix #thematrix #projecticecream #neo #keanureeves #keanu #film #filming #movie #production #sanfrancisco #sf pic.twitter.com/SAaynlG7R9
— Christine Chou (@ch0ubella) February 25, 2020
People were already massively excited for the movie, in other words. But if for some reason fans need a little bit of an extra jolt to convince them this fourth Matrix movie is going to be another fun thrill ride with special effects once again so hot they practically melt your face off, stunt coordinators Chad Stahelski and David Leitch have given an interview to Collider in which they promise, among other things, that the franchise is “coming back with a vengeance.”
This comes after filming on the movie in Berlin had to be paused in mid-March as the coronavirus pandemic started to become a serious problem. Word of the pause in filming, in fact, came the same day that Germany decided to seal its borders to close itself off from five of its European neighbors — Austria, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, and Switzerland
Meanwhile, both Stahelski and Leitch were involved in the original Matrix trilogy, with Stahelski doubling for Keanu Reeves. About Matrix 4, he declared: “It’s incredibly fun. I think if you’re a fan of the original trilogy you’re gonna love this.”
This latest installment in the Matrix franchise had set to hit theaters on May 21, 2021, but there’s starting to be speculation that date may get pushed back because of the pause in filming. The cast includes Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, returning to play Neo and Trinity, respectively, as well as actors Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Henwick, and Jonathan Groff, among others. Lana Wachowski is also back to direct the movie in addition to producing it with Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions executive producer Grant Hill.
Said Stahelski about Wachowski this time around: “We’ve had second unit directors on some of the Matrixes just because of the logistics involved. But of late, and especially on Matrix 4, she’s directing her own action. The second units for them are mostly establishing shots, the B-sides of some of the compositions for some locations. But Lana, she does her own action. She weaves it into the main unit stuff, which is why their stuff looks so good.”
