A Keanu Reeves box office disappointment from 2021 is coming to Netflix in May.
Netflix is advertising on its platform that Reeves’ fourth Matrix film — The Matrix Resurrections — will begin streaming May 1, joining the first three films in the franchise on the streamer. The timing of the debut of The Matrix Resurrections on Netflix is curious considering that Warner Bros. surprisingly announced in early April that a fifth Matrix film was in development.
Unlike the first four Matrix films, however, The Matrix 5 will not be directed by either Lana or Lilly Wachowski. Instead, Variety reported, Drew Goddard — the screenwriter behind such hits as The Martian and Cloverfield and writer-director of Bad Times at the El Royale and Cabin in the Woods — will write and direct the new Matrix installment.
Lana Wachowski — who directed The Matrix Resurrections — will serve on the fifth film as one of its executive producers. It’s unknown at this point if Reeves will return as the film saga’s Christ-like figure Neo.
The Matrix Resurrections was released simultaneously in theaters and on Warner Bros.’ HBO Max streaming platform on December 22, 2021. The film was originally planned to be in theaters only at first, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the studio released its entire 2021 film slate day-and-date both in theaters and on its streaming service, which now goes by Max.
Ultimately, The Matrix Resurrections stumbled at the box office. According to box office tracker The Numbers, the film earned a mere $40.4 million domestically and $118.7 million in theaters overseas for a combined worldwide take of $159.1 million against a $190 million production budget.
Considering that the film was released under unusual circumstances during the pandemic, however, it’s completely within reason to guess The Matrix Resurrections would have performed remarkably better under normal conditions.
Per The Numbers, The Matrix Resurrections grossed the least worldwide of all of the Matrix films. The Matrix, released in March 1999, had a worldwide tally of $465.9 million while the film’s first sequel — May 2003’s The Matrix Reloaded — became the top earner in the franchise with a global gross of $738.5 million.
The third film, The Matrix Revolutions, released in November 2003, earned far less than its predecessor, taking in only $427.3 million worldwide.
What Is ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ About?
Even though Neo seemingly dies at the end of The Matrix Revolutions, Keanu Reeves’ character mysteriously finds his way back to his original persona of Thomas Anderson in The Matrix Resurrections.
In a meta movie move, it turns out Anderson is the greatest game designer of his generation who made The Matrix trilogy of video games — and the company that produced the saga wants him to make a sequel. However, when Anderson begins to have strange visions despite taking blue pills for his supposed mental condition to decipher what’s real and what are figments of his imagination, he faces the decision of taking a red pill to free his mind once again.
Carrie-Anne Moss — who played Neo’s companion Trinity in the first three Matrix films — returned for The Matrix Resurrections. Matrix trilogy star Laurence Fishburne decided not to return as Morpheus, however, and was replaced by Aquaman star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.
Despite the film’s dismal box office performance, The Matrix Resurrections was given a mildly positive reception by critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. The film earned a “fresh” 63% rating based on 360 reviews, while its audience score, coincidentally, was a positive 63%.
If fans don’t want to wait to stream The Matrix Resurrections for “free” on Netflix — provided they subscribe to the service — it is available for digital rental on several online platforms. It is currently streaming for free on Prime Video’s ad-supported Freevee platform, so if you’re in a rush to see it before it streams on Netflix expect the film to be interrupted several times by commercials.
