Why The Matrix Resurrections (Probably) Won’t Get a Sequel

The Matrix Resurrections is officially out, both in the theaters and on HBO Max. The last The Matrix movie came out back in 2003, so it’s been a very long while.

Director Lana Wachowski had a very clear vision in her head for this new installment, but it doesn’t sound like she has plans for another film in the series. “Who sent that question in?” Wachowski joked when the Associated Press asked if there was a new trilogy in the offing. Finally, she laughed out a straight: “No.”

While that seems like a pretty definitive, the decision won’t necessarily be up to Wackowshi alone; if the suits at Warner Bros. want another The Matrix movie, they could do it with or without her. That said, producer James McTeigue doesn’t sound like he has any plans for a follow-up either, although he admits it’s possible. Speaking with Collider, McTeigue explained:

"Look, for us, I think, at the moment, it’s just the movie you’ve seen. We’ve got no prequel in mind. We’ve got no sequel in mind. We’ve got no further trilogy. "But I think the film also works where it’s really open to audience interpretation, like what happened in those 60 years before they fished Neo out again, or Thomas Anderson to Neo. When Neo and Trinity are there at the end, and they’re talking with the analyst, what do they actually mean that they’re going to change? So I think that it’s out there, but it’s not in our wheelhouse at the moment."

In a series like The Matrix, which takes place in an artificial world where pretty much anything can happen, there will always be a way to tell a new story. The only question is if there’s a will.

The Matrix Resurrections is (probably) not the start of a new trilogy

The writers of The Matrix Revolutions, David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hemon, sound similarly unsure about a sequel. “Well, we haven’t talked about it,” Hemon told Gizmodo. “It’s too early for us, certainly, to be involved in that. There’s so many things that need to happen. So as of now, this is it.”

Mitchell also weighed in: “That’s the situation to the best of my knowledge as well. But of course, who knows what happens in the future."