The entertainment news that’s had the internet all aflutter this week came on Tuesday, when word broke that Warner Bros. is in the early stages of developing a reboot of the classic 1999 sci-fi actioner The Matrix. Reboots happen all the time, but The Matrix is a curious case because the original film was so groundbreaking and spawned a franchise of its own. People have strong feelings about this, and while THR’s original report did indeed say this was a reboot WB was working on, they also noted the possibility of telling Rogue One-type stories, like a prequel Morpheus movie.

Now Zak Penn, the screenwriter reported to be in negotiations to pen the treatment for the so-called reboot, has spoken up on Twitter, and while he obviously can’t say much, he does seem to strike down the notion that this Matrix movie is a genuine reboot:

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Image via Warner Bros.

Penn is a writer who knows his way around franchises having worked on X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk, and an early version of The Avengers, and he most recently scripted Ready Player One for Steven Spielberg. But here he seems to reveal that Warner Bros.’ plans for The Matrix may be something of a franchise extension and not a direct remake or reboot.

Indeed, this prospect was mentioned in THR’s report, saying the studio was looking to how Marvel and Lucasfilm were building out their franchises for inspiration. And just as Marvel Studios established the “interconnected universe” model, it appears that Lucasfilm’s trend of telling new stories about characters we already know in films like Rogue One and the upcoming Han Solo movie could be a new model of its own.

This also further explains why Michael B. Jordan is an early contender to lead this new Matrix movie. I’d be 100% down for Jordan playing Neo, but it’s possible he’s actually being eyed to play young Morpheus in a film set within the Matrix universe that the Wachowski siblings established.

I’m actually really intrigued by this. For years the studio model was to simply retell the story of the original film in a new/different way, but this mode of coming up with brand new stories that fit within the established narrative of the original films could breed more creativity. Instead of sticking to a formula, writers/directors are forced to dream up something entirely different—and in a world where blockbusters are almost always based on existing IP, that’s kind of a step in a positive direction.

What do you think folks? Are you heartened by Penn’s thoughts here? Would you rather see a total Matrix reboot or a series of films set within the Wachowskis’ universe? Sound off in the comments below.

 

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Image via Warner Bros.
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Image via Warner Bros.
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Image via Warner Bros.