John Wick 3 Parabellum director Chad Stahelski, who was Keanu Reeves’ stunt double in The Matrix and stunt coordinator on its sequels, claims that Series creators Lana and Lilly Wachowski are working on a fourth Matrix flick, and that their ideas are so exciting that he’d do almost anything to help out.
“I’m super happy that the Wachowskis are not just doing a Matrix, but they’re expanding what we all loved,” Stahelski told Yahoo Movies UK. When asked if that meant that Lana Wachowski would return to direct the next installment of the groundbreaking action franchise, Stahelski admitted that he’s “not sure” exactly what Wachowskis are doing on the project, only that they’re somehow involved at the creative level.
That contradicts an older report from The Hollywood Reporter, which confirmed that a Matrix reboot was in preproduction, but that the Wachowskis weren’t attached to the project. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. has tapped Ready Player One writer Zak Penn to write the script, and was eyeing Black Panther‘s Michael B. Jordan to star.
Stahelski’s comments indicate that Warner Bros.’ plans have changed, although in the absence of an official statement, they should be viewed with skepticism. Still, Stahelski said that he’d “put down whatever I was doing to help” the Wachowskis realize their vision, no matter what the filmmaking duo asked. If they wanted Stahelski to return as a stuntman, “I would probably go and get hit by a car,” the director said.
The Matrix and John Wick star Keanu Reeves shared similar thoughts. If the Wachowskis asked Reeves to return as Neo, the cybercriminal turned VR-superhero that Reeves played in the first three films, Reeves said: “That would be a gift,” and admitted that “he wouldn’t say no.”
John Wick 3: Parabellum, which debuts on May 17, already has a lot of The Matrix in its DNA. In addition to the one-two punch of Stahelski and Reeves, the film has the same kind of hard-hitting, stylized action sequences that made The Matrix a hit, and contains at least one pitch-perfect Matrix Easter egg.
The Matrix debuted in 1999 and introduced viewers to a world in which our reality was little more than a virtual reality simulation, as well as some of the most terrifying villains ever seen in a sci-fi movie.
