After the last two Matrix movies, fans have spent a long time hoping for a fourth chapter that can recapture the classic first instalment's magic. Whether The Matrix Resurrections manages to accomplish this remains to be seen, but with just over a month to go before we find out, excitement is definitely building.
However, it turns out that we nearly missed out on the movie altogether. Talking to Collider, star Jessica Henwick revealed that director Lana Wachowski considered throwing in the towel during production. Why? Because the blockbuster was forced to go on hiatus as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"When we were shut down for COVID and we went off three months, I think it was, I still was at home training every day, even though we didn't know if we were going back," the Iron Fist alum recalls. "When we got shut down for COVID, Lana said, 'Well, maybe that's it. Maybe we won't come back and film the rest of it. Maybe the new Matrix will go down as this legendary film which [is] incomplete, and no one will ever be able to see it. Maybe that's what this is meant to be.'"
"And we were all going, 'No, you have to finish the film.' But she really did toy with the idea of just calling it quits. I don't know if I'm meant to be talking about that."
That might sound like an overreaction, but there was so much uncertainty surrounding what would happen to the movie industry, no one can blame Wachowski for wondering if throwing in the towel might have been easiest! Luckily, the cast and crew were able to return and the movie was finished.
The Matrix Resurrections stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christina Ricci, Telma Hopkins, Eréndira Ibarra, Toby Onwumere, Max Riemelt, Brian J. Smith, and Jada Pinkett Smith.
The fourth instalment of the franchise arrives in theaters and on HBO Max on December 22.