About seven months ago, Lionsgate announced that they would be releasing the fourth film in the JOHN WICK franchise on May 21, 2021. A few hours ago, Warner Bros. announced that they will be releasing the fourth film in the MATRIX franchise on May 21, 2021.
So moviegoers are now faced with a predicament. Which Keanu Reeves action franchise will they want to support opening weekend? JOHN WICK or THE MATRIX?
I think it's probably safe to say that one of these films will be moving from May 21st so we won't actually have a Keanu vs. Keanu situation at the box office, but it does seem quite odd that Warner Bros. has decided to drop THE MATRIX 4 on the same date Lionsgate already claimed for JOHN WICK 4 a long time ago.
Lana Wachowski wrote and directed all of the previous MATRIX films alongside Lilly Wachowski, but Lilly isn't involved with the fourth film. Lana will be directing this one from a script she wrote with Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell. Hemon previously worked with the Wachowskis on Sense8. Mitchell worked with them on Sense8 and also wrote the novel their Tom Tykwer collaboration CLOUD ATLAS was based on.
Keanu Reeves is joined in the cast by fellow returning stars Carrie-Anne Moss and Jada Pinkett Smith, plus new additions Jessica Henwick, Toby Onwumere, Neil Patrick Harris, Jonathan Groff, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.
Harris is rumored to be playing a villain, while Abdul-Mateen may be playing a younger version of the Morpheus character, who was played by Laurence Fishburne in the earlier films.
Lana Wachowski is producing THE MATRIX 4 with Grant Hill.