John Wick directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch involved in Matrix 4

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

I love THE MATRIX. It's probably one of my favorite movies of all time (and unfortunately convinced a young, chubby Damion that trenchcoats were a good idea…) Hell, I even love the sequels! Though they are flawed and don't hold a candle to the lean, mean original, they are still fun in their own right. And as dubious as I am about belated sequels (besides FURY ROAD, how many are actually good?), I respect the audacity of The Wachowskis (with the batsh*t but amazing CLOUD ATLAS and the vastly underrated SPEED RACER under their belts), so at the very least if MATRIX 4 is bad, it'll at least be interestingly bad.

Now, while the production is currently shut down because of COVID-19, during today’s live Collider Connected interview, stuntmen-turned-directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch (who worked together on the first JOHN WICK, while Leitch went on to do ATOMIC BLONDE and DEADPOOL 2) revealed they're going to be helping out with the film! Which isn't too surprising, as they worked on the first film (with Stahelski doubling for Keanu).

Here's some tidbits from Stahelski:

It’s definitely, from what I know of it, it’s incredibly fun. I think if you’re a fan of the original trilogy you’re gonna love this. Coming back with a vengeance…It’s more about the creative concept of some of the choreography and backing them up with stuff. Other than the Matrixes, most of their stuff…what makes [Lana] so great is she directs her own action. 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 the 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.

…They asked us to help out with the choreography and some of the physical training for the guys. I’m helping out a little bit for a sequence, I think Dave’s helping out for a sequence. Lana’s come back with a lot of love to have a pseudo-family reunion, so that’s been a lot of fun. It’s been good to see a lot of the crew members again. We just finished doing a sequence in San Francisco before the pandemic started.

Meanwhile, MATRIX 4, starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (HBO's WATCHMEN, AQUAMAN) in an undisclosed role, as well as the return of Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, and directed solely by Lana Wachowski, was initially slated to be released May 21st, 2021, but with the production currently shut down, that may indeed be subject to change.

So what do you guys think? Excited for a new MATRIX…or burned by the sequels? Either way, sound off below!