As the North American box office struggles to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, China has become more important than ever for blockbusters. Marvel Studios' diverse Phase 4 slate has thus far been denied releases in the Middle Kingdom, hence why No Time to Die and F9: The Fast Saga are among the year's biggest movies at the worldwide box office.
While The Matrix Resurrections will be released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max in the U.S., it's now been confirmed that the fourth instalment of the franchise is set to receive a China debut.
However, recent comments from co-writer David Mitchell have left fans wondering just how this movie will tie to the trilogy that preceded it. "I saw the film in Berlin in September. It's really good," he revealed. "I cannot tell you what this film is about, but I could explain what it is not."
"It's certainly not yet one more sequel, but something autonomous that contains, however, the three Matrix that preceded in a really ingenious way. It's a very beautiful and weird creation," Mitchell teased. "It also achieves a couple of things that we do not see in action films, meaning it subverts the rules of blockbusters."
Resurrections does feel a lot like a reinvention of The Matrix franchise, but we're sure it will address what happened at the end of the trilogy in some way, shape or form.
Check out the new Chinese poster for the movie below:
"In a world of two realities - everyday life and what lies behind it - Thomas Anderson will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more," reads the expectedly vague synopsis for the movie. "Choice, while an illusion, is still the only way in or out of the Matrix, which is stronger, more secure and more dangerous than ever before."
The Matrix Resurrections stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christina Ricci, Telma Hopkins, Eréndira Ibarra, Toby Onwumere, Max Riemelt, Brian J. Smith, and Jada Pinkett Smith.
The fourth instalment of the franchise arrives in theaters and on HBO Max on December 22.