Here’s some sad news, as even in a world filled to the brim with spinoffs and sequels, it seems that Warner Bros. has no plans for any expansion of the recently resurrected The Matrix franchise. The Matrix Resurrections – fitting title – wasN’t a cheap film to produce with $190M and there were expectations it would make bank at the box office. Yet, it currently stands at $106M globally and is struggling to even make its production budget back. It sadly even had the biggest drop in its second week.
There has been no word how the film performed on HBO Max as part of its simulcast release, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, it may have joined the top five. Box office analyst Jeff Bock had the following statement regarding its sub-par performance:
The fact that Resurrections is heavily meta doesn’t help attract new audiences either. Truth is, the multiplex masses weren’t on board
So, while HBO Max’s performance is optimistic there’s another issue that is adding some uncertainty about a future for the franchise. Lana Wachowski has not signed on for more films after directing the latest legacy sequel, and Keanu Reeves‘ contract does not include sequel options. As such, even if they move forward with sequels it doesn’t mean that the actor will also make a definite return. Even with a strong performance on the streamer, mostly related to its older audience, there has not been an official word by Warner Bros. For now, it seems like we might be in for another long wait.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
