Canadian actor Keanu Reeves is having a bit of a second career bump thanks to the success of his action franchise, John Wick, recently seeing the fourth installment wrap production in Paris. His newfound mainstream audience popularity eventually led to Warner Bros. reviving The Matrix films with Matrix Resurrections coming out next month.
Interestingly enough, around the time of the original Matrix, Reeves was in the mix to play Wolverine in Bryan Singer’s first X-Men film. The role ultimately went to Hugh Jackman but in recent years Keanu has been vocal about finding someone else to play in the world of Marvel Comics. He had been linked to playing the lead Kraven The Hunter in Sony’s upcoming solo film and has been trying to find something in the MCU as well, rumored to have almost played Jude Law’s Yon-Rogg in Captain Marvel.
During a recent chat with Esquire to promote the Matrix sequel, Reeves reiterates his desire to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe and sounds like he’s well up-to-date with what is going on with the films/sows.
“Isn’t it bigger than a universe? It’s almost like a multiverse… It’s a Marvel-verse. It would be an honor. There’s some really amazing directors and visionaries, and they’re doing something no one’s ever really done. It’s special in that sense in terms of the scale, the ambition, the production. So it’d be cool to be a part of that,” Reeves told Esquire.
“We talk to him for almost every film we make. We talk to Keanu Reeves about it. I don’t know when, if, or ever he’ll join the MCU, but we very much want to figure out the right way to do it,” Feige told Comic Book.
He’s obviously too old to be considered for Wolverine again, but given his obsession with motorcycles for nearly 40 years and starting his own company Arch, a character like Johnny Blaze, aka, Ghost Rider feels like the perfect part for him.
It looks like we might have a title for the latest John Wick installment.
Shamier Anderson, one of the film’s lead actors, has posted on Instagram that he’s wrapped filming (days after co-star Donnie Yen) and revealed one of his wrap gifts that seemingly has the film’s title attached to it. The title on the gift is John Wick 4: Haragkure, a potential nod to the Japanese book outlining the samurai mantra/code, the Yakuza are expected to be featured in the film with Hiroyuki Sanada possibly representing them for The High Table in the fourth installment.
Having a film’s title being revealed isn’t a new thing, Keanu Revees’ previous shoot for the next Matrix film had its title, The Matrix Resurrections, linked to wrap gifts.
Production had been taking place in Berlin and Paris.
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum ended with John Wick surviving the fall from the roof of The Continental hotel after Ian McShane’s Winston shot him. Winston’s motivations weren’t entirely clear as he didn’t seem shocked that Mr. Wick got away and could be giving The High Table a false sense of security. Wick eventually lands at the feet of Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King, who had his organization taken away from him by The High Table and convinces John to go to war with him against the mysterious group of criminal syndicate puppet masters.
The newest additions to the cast consist of Japanese action star Hiroyuki Sanada as Watanabe, Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen playing Wick’s old pal, British martial artist Scott Adkins (The Expendables 2, Doctor Strange), Marko Zaror (Machete Kills, Alita: Battle Angel), Atomic Blonde’s Bill Skarsgard, Anderson, and the film’s female lead played by Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama.
Returning cast members will be Ian McShane as Winston, Lance Reddick as Charon and Laurence Fishburne back as the Bowery King.
John Wick 4 will hit the big screen on May 27, 2022, and Lionsgate had confirmed plans to make John Wick: Chapter 5, but will no longer shoot back-to-back with the next installment. Franchise creator and architect, Derek Kolstad, stated that he won’t be involved in the next two films and suggested John Wick 5 could be the final pic.
Keanu Reeves is currently shooting John Wick 4, but is also lining up future projects including a feature film adaptation of his newly released Boom! Studios comic book, BRZRRK, that was picked-up by Netflix.
Here is the official press for the comic book.
BOOM! Studios is proud to announce BRZRKR, a twelve-issue limited series from the iconic Keanu Reeves in his Must Read comic book writing debut alongside New York Times bestselling co-writer Matt Kindt (Folklords, Bang!) and acclaimed artist Ron Garney (Wolverine, Captain America), colorist Bill Crabtree (BRPD), and letterer Clem Robins (Hellboy) in a brutally violent new series about one immortal warrior’s fight through the ages.
The man known only as B. is half-mortal and half-God, cursed and compelled to violence…even at the sacrifice of his sanity. But after wandering the world for centuries, B. may have finally found a refuge – working for the U.S. government to fight the battles too violent and too dangerous for anyone else. In exchange, B. will be granted the one thing he desires – the truth about his endless blood-soaked existence…and how to end it.
Reeves has given Collider a tiny development update on the BRZRKR film, revealing they’ve landed screenwriter Mattson Tomlin to tackle the script for the live-action film. Tomslin previously worked on The Batman with director Matt Reeves, the Netflix film Project Power, a Mega Man movie, and is developing an anime series set within the Terminator universe for the streaming service.
“We’re working on trying to set up a company with the animation and we’ve hired a writer for the film Mattson Tomlin. He’s been cool and just starting to put things together. That’s where we’re at.”
A director has yet to be announced but we’re hopeful that a seasoned filmmaker with action chops lands the gig. Given that they’ve just started developing a script there isn’t likely a production start in mind and unlikely conflicts with plans for John Wick 5 or potential Matrix sequels.
Yesterday, saw the release of the first trailer for Lana Wachowski’s The Matrix Resurrections with Keanu Reeves back as The One, Neo.
Interestingly enough, the film’s official synopsis suggests that the new film is only going by the previous events of The Matrix, not the two sequels. It was previously assumed that Resurrections would be a follow-up to The Matrix Revolutions, making many believe that Warner Bros. might be consider the previous films as taking place outside of canon.
The Matrix Resurrections is a continuation of the story established in the first MATRIX film. It reunites Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss as cinematic icons Neo & Trinity in an expansion of their story that ventures back into the Matrix and even deeper down the rabbit hole. A mind-bending new adventure with action and epic scale, it’s set in a familiar yet even more provocative world where reality is more subjective than ever and all that’s required to see the truth is to free your mind.
20 years after the first film, the franchise that helped define pop culture at the turn of the century is back for a continuation and extension of the original movie. The Matrix remains in the zeitgeist as a film that has changed the way we look at cinema and reality itself. With its game changing action and visual effects, The Matrix helped pave the way for films to follow.
Very interesting they’re not talking about the trilogy, only the original movie.
If true, this could mean that there were alternative events that took place between The Matrix and The Matrix Resurrections that are different from what happened in the previous two films. While this could be simple phrasing from the studio to potentially skirt the use of the films to promote the new one, since Reloaded and Revolutions aren’t as highly regarded as the original.
Clearly, certain things from the other films will carry over as seen in the trailer.
There is also the possibility that moving the story forward potentially needed to ignore the events of those films as well.
Another interesting thing is that actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II captioned on Instagram his image from the new trailer with “Morpheus,” suggesting that he is indeed playing a young version of the character in the film.
From visionary filmmaker Lana Wachowski comes “The Matrix Resurrections,” the long-awaited fourth film in the groundbreaking franchise that redefined a genre. The new film reunites original stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss in the iconic roles they made famous, Neo and Trinity.
The film also stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (the “Aquaman” franchise) Jessica Henwick (TV’s “Iron Fist,” “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens”), Jonathan Groff (“Hamilton,” TV’s “Mindhunter”), Neil Patrick Harris (“Gone Girl”), Priyanka Chopra Jonas (TV’s “Quantico,”), Christina Ricci (TV’s “Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story,” “The Lizzie Borden Chronicles”), Telma Hopkins (TV’s “Dead to Me,”), Eréndira Ibarra (series “Sense8,” “Ingobernable”), Toby Onwumere (TV’s “Empire”), Max Riemelt (series “Sense8”), Brian J. Smith (series “Sense8,” “Treadstone”), and Jada Pinkett Smith (“Angel Has Fallen,” TV’s “Gotham”).
Lana Wachowski directed from a screenplay by Wachowski & David Mitchell & Aleksander Hemon, based on characters created by The Wachowskis. The film was produced by Grant Hill, James McTeigue and Lana Wachowski. The executive producers were Garrett Grant, Terry Needham, Michael Salven, Jesse Ehrman and Bruce Berman. Wachowski’s creative team behind the scenes included “Sense8” collaborators: directors of photography Daniele Massaccesi and John Toll, production designers Hugh Bateup and Peter Walpole, editor Joseph Jett Sally, costume designer Lindsay Pugh, visual effects supervisor Dan Glass, and composers Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer.
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents, In Association with Village Roadshow Pictures, In Association with Venus Castina Productions, “The Matrix Resurrections.” The film will be distributed by worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures. It will be in theaters nationwide and on HBO Max via the Ad-Free plan on December 22, 2021; it will be available on HBO Max for 31 days from theatrical release.
Lana Wachowski is back to bring us a fourth Matrix film with The Matrix Resurrections and we’ll see the return of Keanu Reeves’ Neo alongside some other familiar faces and new ones as well.
Warner Bros. has dropped the first trailer for the new film after giving us some teases of footage on the film’s website, which is a neat marketing tool that really hasn’t been used with a mainstream movie in a very long time. I can’t really remember the last time people were actually drawn to a film’s website for marketing purposes outside of things like The Dark Knight.
There is a strong indication this is the first installment of a new Matrix trilogy.
From visionary filmmaker Lana Wachowski comes “The Matrix Resurrections,” the long-awaited fourth film in the groundbreaking franchise that redefined a genre. The new film reunites original stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss in the iconic roles they made famous, Neo and Trinity.
The film also stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (the “Aquaman” franchise) Jessica Henwick (TV’s “Iron Fist,” “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens”), Jonathan Groff (“Hamilton,” TV’s “Mindhunter”), Neil Patrick Harris (“Gone Girl”), Priyanka Chopra Jonas (TV’s “Quantico,”), Christina Ricci (TV’s “Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story,” “The Lizzie Borden Chronicles”), Telma Hopkins (TV’s “Dead to Me,”), Eréndira Ibarra (series “Sense8,” “Ingobernable”), Toby Onwumere (TV’s “Empire”), Max Riemelt (series “Sense8”), Brian J. Smith (series “Sense8,” “Treadstone”), and Jada Pinkett Smith (“Angel Has Fallen,” TV’s “Gotham”).
Lana Wachowski directed from a screenplay by Wachowski & David Mitchell & Aleksander Hemon, based on characters created by The Wachowskis. The film was produced by Grant Hill, James McTeigue and Lana Wachowski. The executive producers were Garrett Grant, Terry Needham, Michael Salven, Jesse Ehrman and Bruce Berman. Wachowski’s creative team behind the scenes included “Sense8” collaborators: directors of photography Daniele Massaccesi and John Toll, production designers Hugh Bateup and Peter Walpole, editor Joseph Jett Sally, costume designer Lindsay Pugh, visual effects supervisor Dan Glass, and composers Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer.
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents, In Association with Village Roadshow Pictures, In Association with Venus Castina Productions, “The Matrix Resurrections.” The film will be distributed by worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures. It will be in theaters nationwide and on HBO Max via the Ad-Free plan on December 22, 2021; it will be available on HBO Max for 31 days from theatrical release.
The Matrix: Resurrections is about to give Matrix fans a massive thrill as Warner Bros. has announced the first trailer on Thursday, the film’s official Twitter account confirmed this and we even have some teases of that trailer. You can watch the snippets of teaser footage on the reactivated Matrix website here.
Lana Wachowksi returns to direct a cast that consists of Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jessica Henwick, Daniel Bernhardt, Priyanka Chopra, Ibarra, Neil Patrick Harris, Toby Onwumere, Brian J. Smith, Eréndira Ibarra, Andrew Caldwell, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Christina Ricci, and Ellen Hollman.
The new footage shows Jessica Henwick’s character, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as his Morpheus-like role, a Sentinel in the real world, Neo back in the dojo training program, Neo and Trinity together, and we see Keanu Reeves as Neo getting ready to fight a crowd of people along with stopping multiple machine guns at close range.
There is an expectation this latest installment could be the start of a second Matrix trilogy, but has yet to be officially announced by the studio or Lana Wachowski.
The Matrix: Resurrections still has a release date of December 22.
THE MATRIX – Neo (Keanu Reeves) believes that Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), an elusive figure considered to be the most dangerous man alive, can answer his question — What is the Matrix? Neo is contacted by Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), a beautiful stranger who leads him into an underworld where he meets Morpheus. They fight a brutal battle for their lives against a cadre of viciously intelligent secret agents. It is a truth that could cost Neo something more precious than his life.
John Wick 4 has been filming outside of Berlin, Germany with Keanu Reeves back as the big bad assassin John Wick and director Chad Stahelski assembling quite the cast for the latest action pic. Another actor might have been added to the main lineup.
Take the following with a grain of salt, but British actress Natalia Tena (Black Mirror, Wolfe) has been listed on IMDB (could be bogus) as being part of the cast. However, Tena is such a left-field name to falsely attach to the project and sort of makes sense given her recent projects including a new crime series Wolfe.
Tena has various franchise roles including being part of the Star Wars universe playing Xi’an in the first season of The Mandalorian, Osha in multiple seasons of HBO’s Game of Thrones, and Nymphadora Tonks in four Harry Potter installments.
She wouldn’t be the only Game of Thrones alumni involved with the Wick franchise as Aflie Allen was the little brat that pulled Wick back into the life of hired killers and Ian McShane also had a brief role in the fantasy series.
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum ended with John Wick surviving the fall from the roof of The Continental hotel after Ian McShane’s Winston shot him. Winston’s motivations weren’t entirely clear as he didn’t seem shocked that Mr. Wick got away and could be giving The High Table a false sense of security. Wick eventually lands at the feet of Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King, who had his organization taken away from him by The High Table and convinces John to go to war with him against the mysterious group of criminal syndicate puppet masters.
The rest of the cast consists of Ian McShane as Winston, Lance Reddick as Charon and Laurence Fishburne back as the Bowery King, Donnie Yen (Mulan, Ip Man, Blade II, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Hiroyuki Sanada (Shogun, Westworld, Sunshine, The Last Samurai) as Watanabe, Clancy Brown (Highlander, The Punisher, Billions), Scott Adkins (The Expendables 2, Doctor Strange), Marko Zaror (Machete Kills, Alita: Battle Angel), Bill Skarsgard (Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2), Shamier Anderson, and Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama.
Donnie Yen has been getting a bit of love from Hollywood recently with roles in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Mulan, and is currently shooting John Wick 4 in Berlin.
While speaking with Looper to promote his new action pic, Raging Fire, the Hong Kong actor was asked if he’d be willing to reprising his Star Wars role of Chirrut Îmwe.
“Well, I would definitely consider it. I had a great time shooting ‘Rogue One,’ and I guess people like my character. It really depends, you don’t know what they’re thinking. I leave it up to Disney to sort it out. We’ll see. I believe in destiny. “
With shows like Star Wars: Andor, a prequel to Rogue One, there are certainly possibilities of Lucasfilm eventually bringing back Chirrut.
He also explained how producer Basil Iwanyk courted him for the John Wick franchise and says shooting the fourth film has been his “best experience” working on it, as one of the few American productions he’s been involved with
“I’m having a wonderful time here. Keanu Reeves is a wonderful soul, gentleman, best guy I’ve ever worked with, just a great guy, same as Chad. This so far has been the best experience in the very few American movies I have ever been. And you will not be disappointed with the film, you will be wowed by the film.“
“They were really passionate about wanting me to be in the film, and we had multiple discussions of my role, and where I’d like to take this role. And we totally, we synced, and we were on the same page. That’s what happened, and there I am.”
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum ended with John Wick surviving the fall from the roof of The Continental hotel after Ian McShane’s Winston shot him. Winston’s motivations weren’t entirely clear as he didn’t seem shocked that Mr. Wick got away and could be giving The High Table a false sense of security. Wick eventually lands at the feet of Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King, who had his organization taken away from him by The High Table and convinces John to go to war with him against the mysterious group of criminal syndicate puppet masters.
The cast also includes Ian McShane as Winston, Lance Reddick as Charon and Laurence Fishburne back as the Bowery King, Hiroyuki Sanada as Watanabe, Clancy Brown (Highlander), British martial artist Scott Adkins (The Expendables 2, Doctor Strange), Marko Zaror (Machete Kills, Alita: Battle Angel), Atomic Blonde’s Bill Skarsgard, Stowaway’s Shamier Anderson, and the film’s female lead played by Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama.
Warner Bros. has officially announced yesterday that Matrix 4 is indeed titled The Matrix: Resurrections, they also revealed footage during the studio’s presentation at CinemaCon.
Lana Wachowksi returns to direct a cast that consists of Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jessica Henwick, Daniel Bernhardt, Priyanka Chopra, Ibarra, Neil Patrick Harris, Toby Onwumere, Brian J. Smith, Eréndira Ibarra, Andrew Caldwell, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Christina Ricci, and Ellen Hollman.
CinemaCon footage was described by The Hollywood Reporter’s Aaron Couch, revealing that both Neo and Trinity have no memory of the previous events. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is indeed playing that “Morpheus” figure and that Neil Patrick Harris is playing Thomas Anderson’s (Neo’s identity within the Matrix) therapist. Neo is taking two blue pills a day, potentially to keep his memories/powers suppressed.
“Neo Takes two blue pills a day, prescribed by his doctor Finally he meets a man dressed like Morpheus, who offers him a red pill. Neo seems to have a few new powers from the last time (controls a missile through telekanesis).”
It was previously reported that Jessica Henwick’s character is supposed to be the new Neo/The One, but I guess we’ll have to wait a little longer about getting that confirmed. We likely won’t have to wait too long before Warner Bros. starts to kick off the marketing campaign and sharing a public trailer.
The Matrix: Resurrections still has a release date of December 22.
THE MATRIX – Neo (Keanu Reeves) believes that Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), an elusive figure considered to be the most dangerous man alive, can answer his question — What is the Matrix? Neo is contacted by Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), a beautiful stranger who leads him into an underworld where he meets Morpheus. They fight a brutal battle for their lives against a cadre of viciously intelligent secret agents. It is a truth that could cost Neo something more precious than his life.
Folks, I don't even know where to begin with The Matrix. Wow! It's called The Matrix: Resurrections. Thomas Anderson is in therapy, having forgotten The Matrix. He meets Trinity at a coffee shop. Neither remembers one another… #CinemaCon
Neo Takes two blue pills a day, prescribed by his doctor Finally he meets a man dressed like Morpheus, who offers him a red pill. Neo seems to have a few new powers from the last time (controls a missile through telekanesis) https://t.co/eFd05K45nf
John Wick 4 hasn’t stopped adding new cast members and the latest one is a doozy.
Deadline reports that veteran character actor Clancy Brown (The Punisher, Billions, SpongeBob SquarePants) has nabbed a role in the action sequel, who is likely best known for his roles in films such as Highlander, Shawshank Redemption, and Starship Troopers.
Director Chad Stahelski and Clancy Brown have a Highlander connection, as Stahelski is attached to direct a reboot of the fantasy action film for Lionsgate. Given that project is spending a portion of its production shooting in Paris, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before French action star Christopher Lambert is announced next.
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum ended with John Wick surviving the fall from the roof of The Continental hotel after Ian McShane’s Winston shot him. Winston’s motivations weren’t entirely clear as he didn’t seem shocked that Mr. Wick got away and could be giving The High Table a false sense of security. Wick eventually lands at the feet of Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King, who had his organization taken away from him by The High Table and convinces John to go to war with him against the mysterious group of criminal syndicate puppet masters.
The newest additions to the cast consist of Japanese action star Hiroyuki Sanada as Watanabe, Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen playing Wick’s old pal, British martial artist Scott Adkins (The Expendables 2, Doctor Strange), Marko Zaror (Machete Kills, Alita: Battle Angel), Atomic Blonde’s Bill Skarsgard, Stowaway’s Shamier Anderson, and the film’s female lead played by Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama.
Returning actors are Ian McShane as Winston, Lance Reddick as Charon and Laurence Fishburne back as the Bowery King. Meanwhile, we’re still in the dark about established characters played by Halle Berry, Asia Kate Dillion, John Leguizamo, Peter Stormare, Common, Jason Mantzoukas, Anjelica Huston, Said Taghmaoui, Yayan Ruhian, and Cecept Arif Rahman making an appearance in John Wick 4.
John Wick 4 will hit the big screen on May 27, 2022, and Lionsgate had confirmed plans to make John Wick: Chapter 5, but will no longer shoot back-to-back with the next installment. Franchise creator and architect, Derek Kolstad, stated that he won’t be involved in the next two films and suggested John Wick 5 could be the final pic.
THE RONIN 