If you’re not plugged into the movie-sphere (by a cable jacked straight into your head, naturally), chances are you wouldn’t know that a fourth Matrix movie is on the way before the year is out. But The Matrix 4 is indeed due to hit cinemas this December – and, after years of every detail being kept tightly under wraps, we now know the title to ask for at the ticket counter: The Matrix Resurrections. The name was unveiled at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, along with the first trailer – which, sadly, is yet to make its way online.
According to those who did see the trailer, here’s a brief description of what goes down: Keanu Reeves' character (is he still Thomas Anderson?) apparently remembers nothing of his previous life, and visits his therapist (played by Neil Patrick Harris). But it's not long before he's drawn back into the world of crazy action and Carrie-Anne Moss' Trinity – even if she and Neo barely recognise each other. Also featured? Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (long-rumoured to be playing an incarnation of Morpheus, a detail still tbc) who fights our hero.
The Matrix Resurrections comes nearly 20 years after the 2003 double-bill release of The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions – with a title that neatly continues the Re- naming convention without going full on Matrix Rebooted. Lana Wachowski is on solo directing duty this time around, from a screenplay she wrote with Aleksandar Hemon and Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell. Also starring will be Jessica Yu Li Henwick, Jonathan Groff, and Jada Pinkett Smith, who returns as Niobe. Prepare to enter the Matrix all over again when The Matrix Resurrections hits cinemas on 22 December.
Also shown off as part of Warners' presentation? A new The Batman trailer, which we're also waiting to see online. Matt Reeves' take on the character (with Robert Pattinson starring) is scheduled for release on 4 March next year.