Matrix' reboot: Some say studio should choose another pill

Backlash on social media over any tampering with the science-fiction creation

NEW YORK — A reboot of “The Matrix” is said to be the works, but many fans would rather see Warner Bros. choose a different pill.

Warner Bros. is gearing up to reboot The Matrix, and many people have taken that to mean the studio will bring back original characters like Neo, Trinity and Morpheus.

That’s not necessarily true.

The terms remake and reboot get thrown around together, and people often assume they mean the same thing. There is a pretty big distinction between the two, however, and it’s important to note that Warner Bros. isn’t planning on remaking the original film.

Any new “Matrix” film is in such an early stage that it may like countless other projects in development never amount to anything. Warner Bros. declined to share any details on its plans on Wednesday.

But the report was enough to stoke a backlash on social media over any tampering with the Wachowskis’ trench-coated, slow-motion bullet-flying science-fiction creation. Reboots, you may have noticed, are a tad common for Hollywood these days. And while repaving old favorites often causes consternation among fans, the possibility of a new “Matrix” touched a nerve.

On one hand, the dystopian vision of “The Matrix,” about a rebellion against the machine-controlled rule, would seem ideal for today. After all, many have recently suggested the world has tipped into a simulated reality of its own. The time may be ripe for the deep “rabbit-hole” diving Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus advocated.

Also, initially wounded fan feelings have been known to soften under the right conditions. Get the right talent involved, secure the necessary blessings, talk about “mining” the story’s boundless “universe” and you could come opening weekend have a “Matrix” version of the “The Force Awakens” on your hands.

But there’s also reason to believe moviegoers are increasingly saying no to cash-grab reboots. The reasons for their demises were various, but last summer was a graveyard of underwhelming redos, including “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” “Independence Day: Resurgence” and “Ghostbusters.”

Still, remakes and sequels remain, overwhelmingly, the biggest box-office hits. Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” another refashioned `90s fairy tale (albeit one with fewer sunglasses), is expected to open with more than $130 million in ticket sales this weekend and may ultimately gross $1 billion worldwide.

So why is the prospect of more “Matrix” particularly jarring? Here are a few reasons why:

No Wachowskis. Though they could, of course, get involved in some capacity in the future, they aren’t currently attached as directors for the new project. For many, a “Matrix” without Lana and Lilly Wachowski the writers and directors of all three films is anathema. Though their subsequent movies the “Matrix” sequels, “Cloud Atlas” and “Jupiter Ascending” have been largely received as misfires, they’ve never lacked for ambition, daring or imagination. That goes double for their Netflix series “Sense8.” Keanu Reeves has said their involvement is necessary for his participation in any new “Matrix” movie. Yet despite Reeves’ action-hero bona fides in still sterling condition (see “John Wick” and its sequel) and the Wachowskis continually churning out sci-fi, Warner Bros. is said to be exploring a different filmmaker and star. “Avengers” scribe Zak Penn may write the script. Originality was the main thrill of “The Matrix.” The disappointing sequels notwithstanding, “The Matrix” was for fans exhilaratingly current, even futuristic, in its special-effects innovation, distinctive visuals, and philosophical underpinnings. A remake goes against the movie’s defining quality. Something of a gamble, “The “Matrix” was released in March but went on to win four Oscars and make $463.5 million worldwide. Among the many to decry a reboot was “Full Frontal” writer Travon Free, who said: “An original masterpiece called `Get Out’ made $113M on a $4M budget and Warner Bros is rebooting `The Matrix.’ Spend that money on new ideas!”

Too Soon. Though quick reboots have happened before (“Spider-Man” may have set the record at a mere five years) “The Matrix” doesn’t yet feel especially dated at 18 years old. But as Hollywood begins veering into the `90s for remake-ready intellectual property, Generation X is beginning to experience what has long been a constant for baby boomers. (1999’s “The Blair Witch Project” was also reborn last year.) As Hollywood edges closer to today to plunder evermore recent remakes, it might need Neo to find some kind of time warp, too.

To recap: A reboot is defined by those in the industry as a complete rebranding of a specific title or IP. A remake is defined as a complete retelling of the same story and characters that a studio buys the rights to.

As far as we know, Warner Bros. isn’t intending to bring back Neo. The studio is eyeing Michael B. Jordan (The Wire, Friday Night Lights, Black Panther) to star in the lead role and sources say Warner Bros. is interested in exploring similar routes Lucasfilm took to make Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the upcoming, untitled Han Solo movie. Essentially, the new Matrix movie will exist in the same universe as the Matrix films, but won’t feature the main characters or tell those same stories.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because Warner Bros. has already done this. Warner Bros. released the animated film The Animatrix in 2003. The movie collected a series of short stories from within the Matrix universe, and told the story of the original war between humans and machines that led to the creation of the Matrix. It was a critical success, and has become one of the most beloved entries in the franchise. Although it wasn’t a reboot of the original film, it managed to explore the world the Wachowski siblings had created in the 1999 film and broaden it.

Based on the information we have, Warner Bros. is planning to do something along the same lines as The Animatrix for the reboot. It is, essentially, bringing back the IP and creating a new story for fans and newcomers to enjoy. This means it could focus on a younger version of a main character that exists outside of the main franchise’s storyline, or it could build out a movie on an asinine detail.

This is exactly what Rogue One did, and the untitled Han Solo story plans to do. It’s unclear at this time if Warner Bros. is interested in pursuing more than one movie in the Matrix universe, and chances are that will depend heavily on the success of the first movie.

Warner Bros. is currently in the early stages of development on the project, and as such, there is no estimated release window at this time.

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