The Matrix Resurrections is a 2021 American science fiction film action film produced, co-written, and directed by The Wachowskis, and the first in the Matrix franchise to be directed solely by Lana, without her sister, Lilly. It is the sequel to The Matrix Revolutions and the fourth installment in The Matrix . The film stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christina Ricci, and Jada Pinkett Smith. The film is set sixty years after Revolutions and follows Neo The Matrix, who lives a seemingly ordinary life as a video game developer having trouble with distinguishing fantasy from reality. A group of rebels, with the help of a programmed version of Morpheus The Matrix, free Neo from a new version of the Matrix and fight a new enemy that holds Trinity The Matrix captive.
Following the release of Revolutions, the Wachowskis denied the possibility of another Matrix film. Warner Bros. constantly expressed interest in reviving the franchise, hiring Zak Penn to write a new screenplay after the Wachowskis refused every offer to create more sequels. In late 2019, a fourth Matrix film was finally announced, with Lana Wachowski returning as director without her sister Lilly Wachowski, and with Reeves and Moss reprising their roles. Filming started in February 2020 but was Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema the next month by the COVID-19 pandemic. Wachowski considered abandoning the film, but was encouraged by the cast to finish it. Filming resumed in August and concluded three months later.
The Matrix Resurrections premiered at Castro Theater in San Francisco on December 16, 2021, and was released theatrically and via the HBO Max streaming service by Warner Bros. Pictures on December 22, 2021.