The Matrix 4 Gets Official Title As Warner Bros. Teases Trailer at CinemaCon

We are probably very close to see the first trailer for The Matrix 4, which Warner Bros. revealed during their CinemaCon event in Las Vegas but has yet to appear online. As we wait for the goods, we at least now know the film’s title—The Matrix Resurrections.

The Warner Bros. presentation at CinemaCon highlighted their indisputably epic upcoming slate. Not only did they reveal the first trailer for director Lana Wachowski’s The Matrix Resurrections (premiering December 22), but they revealed fresh looks at Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (October 22), Matt Reeves’ The Batman (March 4, 2022), Clint Eastwood’s Cry Macho, The Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark, and King Richard, starring Will Smith as the father of Venus and Serena Williams.

Revealing The Matrix Resurrections trailer caused the biggest stir, as there’s been practically zero known about the long-awaited fourth film in the game-changing, culture-defining sci-fi saga, including the actual title. Lana Wachowski directs from a script she co-wrote with David Mitchell (his novel “Cloud Atlas” became a Lana and Lilly Wachowski film), and Aleksander Hemon. Resurrections will be true to its title and resurrect a trio of the original trilogy’s stars—Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Jada Pinkett Smith. Newcomers include Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christina Ricci, Telma Hopkins, Eréndira Ibarra, Toby Onwumere, Max Riemelt, and Brian J. Smith.

The trailer opens with Thomas Anderson, better known as Neo (Reeves) in therapy, struggling to tell his therapist (Neil Patrick Harris) about what he experienced—he has no memory of The Matrix, but he senses the dreams he has of that time aren’t dreams at all. He eventually runs into a familiar-seeming woman at a coffee shop (Moss), and while there seems to be a connection here, neither can remember who the other is. We also find out that Reeves’ Anderson has to take prescription blue pills, and to make matters even drearier, he can’t figure out why everyone around him is glued to their phones. Back in the Matrix, poor devil.

Then Thomas meets a man (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) who hands him a red pill, and voila, this is when the trailer starts to hint at the adventure to come. This miniature synopsis, while accurate, is obviously bare bones. It’ll be more enjoyable when we can actually share the trailer with you, which will think will happen any minute/hour now.

Warner Bros. also showed a sizzle reel for The Batman and highlighted the work of cinematographer Greig Fraser, who also shot Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, which means Fraser has his fingerprints on two of Warner Bros. biggest upcoming films. (His work can also been seen in Disney+’s The Mandalorian, where he won an Emmy for shooting the 7th episode in season one, “The Reckoning.”)

All in all, Warner Bros. presentation revealed that the studio’s slate is chock-a-block with films that really need to be seen on the biggest screen possible, which is precisely what theater owners want to hear. More to the point, starting in 2022, the studio will once again give their films exclusive theatrical windows so that their movies will play in theaters for 45 days before appearing on HBO Max.

For more on Warner Bros., HBO, and HBO Max, check out these stories:

“Succession” Season 3 Premieres This October

Denis Villeneuve Writing Script For “Dune 2” & Zendaya Will Star

An Iconic Batman Returns: Michael Keaton on Picking Up The Cape & Cowl

Chloé Zhao Has Seen “Dune” And Was “Blown Away”

“The Suicide Squad” Production Designer Beth Mickle on Creating Gonzo Sets

Featured image: Carrie-Anne, Moss Laurence Fishburne, and Keanu Reeves standing against brick wall in a scene from the film ‘The Matrix Reloaded’, 2003. (Photo by Warner Brothers/Getty Images)

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The Credits is an online magazine that tells the story behind the story to celebrate our large and diverse creative community. Focusing on profiles of below-the-line filmmakers, The Credits celebrates the often uncelebrated individuals who are indispensable to the films and TV shows we love.