Hollywood’s major studios are never going to give up the rights to their most valuable live-action properties, especially to a direct rival, but the stance is a lot more relaxed when it comes to animation. Indeed, Netflix have taken full advantage of that by acquiring a raft of brands to position at the forefront of the platform’s animated expansion.
Pacific Rim: The Black was launched last month and Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness is expected around the middle of this year, with a whole lot more on the way. In the last few months alone, the company has announced animated shows based on Tomb Raider, Kong: Skull Island and Terminator, and the Transformers: War For Cybertron trilogy will also draw to a close in a matter of months.
Alien, Predator and Stargate have all been rumored for similar treatment, too, and according to the latest from insider Daniel Richtman, The Matrix is on Netflix’s list as well, should Warner Bros. agree to a deal. Of course, the sci-fi series is a different proposition to the others in that it’s already been the subject of a popular animated spinoff, with The Animatrix becoming regarded as an influential part of canon after being released in June 2003 and selling close to three million copies.
Obviously, with the fourth installment in the live-action franchise set to hit theaters and HBO Max in December, WB could have a vested interest in developing their own Matrix show to help bolster the lineup of streaming originals. After all, while it may have been absent from our screens for a while, there’s still plenty of value in the name, which would only increase depending on how the next feature film fares with critics and at the box office.
