POLL RESULTS: Should Warner Bros. Make More Matrix Movies?

Twenty years after The Matrix debuted, Warner Bros. is in development on a new Matrix film, but is that such a wise idea? ComingSoon.net asked its readers whether or not WB should proceed with more Matrix movies, as well as whether the new film should be a sequel, prequel or reboot. Check out the official results of the nearly 3000 readers who participated in the poll below!

This week’s header image is by artist/screenwriter Ian Fried (Spectral), and you can check out a poster-version in the gallery below and purchase a t-shirt version at this link!

Should Warner Bros. Make more Matrix movies?

YES! The possibilities are endless!!!! (69%, 1964 votes)

NO. That franchise ran its course years ago. (31%, 903 votes)

While a two-thirds majority certainly seem like they are hungry for an expansion of the Matrix universe, it’s hard not to look at that other third of those who voted and said they weren’t interested. In the short time we’ve been doing polls we have seen much higher levels of enthusiasm for other properties. That said, it’s clear there is something of an audience for these new films that WB is planning. Now that we’re in a “post-truth” world where cyber crimes and the health of social media ecosystems are front-page news, is the sci-fi universe of The Matrix really all that exotic anymore? Would the new films still be R-rated and have a revolutionary underpinning where gender identities were blurred, or will the studio gut the politics of the original trilogy in favor of putting PG-13 action front and center?

Should a new Matrix movie be…

A sequel/continuation. (58%, 1493 votes)

A prequel about young Morpheus (24%, 612 votes)

A total reboot/remake (18%, 470 votes)

It seems like the consensus really wants a legacy sequel, which is in keeping with current trends. With big failures like The Amazing Spider-Man films, 2016’s Ghostbusters and 2019’s Hellboy, studios have yet to learn that when it comes to beloved properties a reboot is not the way to go. You want to go reboot only when the series is in shambles, as WB’s Batman franchise was before Christopher Nolan revamped it. The Matrix still has enough of a following that fans would want to see the original trilogy acknowledged and expanded upon while hopefully also evolving the concept, ala The Force Awakens or Halloween. As for a prequel concept, that might be an idea best left on the drawing board.

Two years ago it was revealed that Warner Bros. was interested in rebooting The Matrix franchise with writer Zak Penn (Ready Player One, X-Men: The Last Stand). Following fan displeasure at the announcement, Penn himself revealed that the new film isn’t a “remake/reboot” of the original series but in fact something else. Penn then went on record with ScreenRant to say that development continues on The Matrix reboot.

“I’ve been working on ‘Matrix’ right now,” Penn confirmed. “Which is in…a phase right now. That’s a franchise I desperately want to see brought back and, I can’t go in to too much detail, but I’ve been harassing Warner Bros. for years to try to get it going again so that’s one thing I’m working on and I’ve been working on a bunch of other things too… Both ‘The Matrix’ and OASIS [in ‘Ready Player One’] are similar in that they are brilliant ideas for universes. And they are not, you know, when it came out about ‘Matrix,’ people were like ‘Oh no, there going to reboot Matrix’ I was like, Why, I’m not insane. I mean, ‘The Matrix’ is still one of my favorite…they’d re-release ‘The Matrix’ and people would go see it… It doesn’t always have to be the same characters, you could go in so many different directions.”

It was previously reported that one of the concepts Warner Bros. is considering for the film is a young Morpheus movie, with an eye towards Michael B. Jordan starring as the character. Played by Laurence Fishburne in The Matrix, Morpheus is the captain of the Nebuchadnezzar and the leader of its crew. In the context of the series, a lot of key moments in Morpheus’ past took place offscreen, including his early relationship with Niobe (played by Jada Pinkett Smith in the series) and his visit to The Oracle, who revealed to him that he would find The One, all of which could be fertile ground for a solo/spin-off movie.

The Matrix was released back in 1999 to both critical acclaim and box office success, bringing in $463 million worldwide on just a $63 million budget. It was following by two sequels, The Matrix Reloaded in 2003 and The Matrix Revolutions (released six months after the first sequel) which combined to bring in $1.169 billion at the global box office. The Animatrix was an animated anthology based on the film series and was also released in 2003. There have been numerous video games, anime and comics in the franchise that have continued the story.

Are you excited about the idea of Matrix reboot, or simply a new Matrix movie? Sound off in the comments below!