WarnerMedia will be giving their filmmakers and creative talents more leeway this year, with box office takings set to be less important to determining the fate of sequels to the company’s marquee movie franchises than any other annum thanks to the controversial and contentious decision to send the entire 2021 slate to HBO Max on day one.
James Gunn confirmed he’s sticking around for another DCEU project despite The Suicide Squad failing to recoup its $185 million budget from theaters, Denis Villenueve’s Dune is expected to get that Part Two regardless of how it performs, and we’re still waiting for a second Mortal Kombat to be announced after the opener was described as a top asset by the higher-ups.
The fate of The Matrix series, once Resurrections draws to a close, is less clear, though, if only for the veil of secrecy that still surrounds the project. Of course, we’ve heard plenty of rumors that a fifth installment is already in development, but we won’t be finding out whether that’s the case until after Neo returns to our screens in December.
However, WarnerMedia CEO Ann Sarnoff was asked by Deadline if another Matrix was in the offing, to which she replied by saying “any time Lana [Wachowski] wants to make a movie, we’re all in”. That’s encouraging, so fans will be on tenterhooks to discover if Resurrections tells a complete story, or if it leaves the door open for more stylized cyberpunk adventures.
