It seems unlikely that a Matrix 5 movie will ever happen, but that's not really such a bad thing. When it comes to movies released in the 1990s, The Matrix is without a doubt in the top echelon, a classic appreciated by most audiences. As a franchise, though, The Matrix's reputation is far from sterling. The blinding light of quality that is the Wachowskis' first blockbuster hit sometimes masks that fact, but overall, the Matrix brand was far from untarnished long before The Matrix Resurrections was released in theaters.

Unsurprisingly, the massive success of the original Matrix movie led to two sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, neither of which has ever approached the acclaim of the original. Outside of those two films, the Enter the Matrix video game spinoff, and the hit or miss animated anthology The Animatrix, the Matrix franchise had been dormant on both the big and small screens for nearly 20 years before Resurrections came out. The only meat audiences got to chew on were some comics set in the universe, and two video game tie-ins, The Matrix: Path of Neo and The Matrix Online, and neither was a big hit.

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Before The Matrix Resurrections was announced, most had accepted the idea that there would never be another Matrix movie. Now, many of those who enjoyed Resurrections are hoping to see a Matrix 5, but the colossal box office failure of Resurrections makes that happening seem nearly impossible. That might make some fans sad, but at the end of the day, a Matrix 5 not happening is for the best.

Why The Matrix 5 Is Unlikely To Happen

Matrix Resurrections box office failure neo trinity morpheus Matrix 5

As mentioned, there's one major reason that The Matrix 5 probably won't ever happen, and that's The Matrix Resurrections utterly failing at the box office. The Matrix Resurrections had a reported budget of $190 million, and that's just for production, with marketing costs also likely being quite high. So far, now solo writer/director Lana Wachowski's sequel has made only $140 million worldwide after nearly one month of release. It's worth noting that it was also released simultaneously on HBO Max. Still, The Matrix Resurrections not having made its budget back by now is a financial catastrophe, and likely means Warner Bros. will be taking an enormous loss, to the tune of at least tens of millions of dollars.

Even aside from the bad box office, though, Lana Wachowski and lead star Keanu Reeves had been expressing in interviews even before release that there were no current plans to continue the franchise with a Matrix 5. To be fair, both also insisted for years that a Matrix 4 wouldn't happen, so had The Matrix Resurrections become a hit, one assumes their tune might've changed on a Matrix 5 as well. With The Matrix Resurrections' box office flop considered, however, there's no real reason for either Wachowski or Reeves to budge from their stance of leaving the Matrix franchise in hibernation. While Warner Bros. could legally make a Matrix 5 without a Wachowski at the helm, it seems unlikely they would, and they certainly wouldn't make one without Reeves, who would likely refuse to return without Wachowski.

Resurrections Sets Up The Matrix 5, But Would It Work?

Neo and Trinity in The Matrix

Along the lines of their denial that a Matrix 5 was in the planning stages, both writer/director Lana Wachowski and Keanu Reeves have downplayed the idea that The Matrix Resurrections served to set up a follow-up film. Yet, with all due respect to them, their assessment isn't accurate. The Matrix Resurrections clearly leaves the door open for a continuation of the story, with Neo and Trinity now sharing the powers of The One, and both setting out to remake the Matrix into a better place to live for those stuck within it. It also sounds like Neo and Trinity plan to continue freeing those humans ready to take the red pill as well.

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While all that sounds fine in theory, in practice, those events may be best left to the imagination. After all, Neo and Trinity are shown to be so powerful at the end of The Matrix Resurrections that Architect replacement The Analyst seems powerless to stop them. While The Analyst does have bosses he answers to, he appears to be the most powerful program found within the Matrix, yet Neo and Trinity can now slap him around for fun. That doesn't make for much of a central conflict, and watching Neo and Trinity easily destroy machine forces for two hours would eventually get old. One could try and solve that problem by de-powering Neo and Trinity a bit, but that would just undercut all they went through in The Matrix Resurrections.

Why It's Better The Matrix 5 Never Happens

While those supremely dedicated to the Matrix franchise will likely never be convinced that more movies could be a bad thing, at the end of the day, a Matrix 5 is an idea best left unrealized. In addition to the potential plot conflict issues laid out previously, doing a Matrix 5 would open up other cans of worms. For one, even if one or both Wachowski sisters, Reeves, and Carrie-Anne Moss could be convinced to get onboard with another movie, Reeves' extremely busy schedule would probably prevent production from happening for a period of years. That delay may lead to Matrix 5 ending up in a circle of development Hell for a while, as interest among the parties involved waxes and wanes. It's safe to say no one would want to wait another decade or two to get a sequel to Matrix Resurrections if one were to be made.

Outside of that, there's the fact that The Matrix Resurrections is actually a pretty good place to leave the franchise, from a purely narrative standpoint. Neo and Trinity are no longer dead, after sadly sacrificing their lives during The Matrix Revolutions. Not only that, but they're reunited, and both imbued with god-like powers within the Matrix's virtual world. Neo and Trinity are poised to remake the Matrix, and without a Matrix 5 actually being made, fans can rest easy in the knowledge that their favorite couple is spending their days painting the sky with rainbows and showing imprisoned humans what a free mind can do. Trying to continue the story with another movie would just risk ruining that happy ending.

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