Mark your calendars for December 18, an event you will not be invited to, as Keanu and the gang will return to San Francisco for the red carpet theatrical premiere of The Matrix: Resurrections.
Fans have been colloquially referring to the highly anticipated fourth Matrix installment as The Matrix 4, perhaps as a defense mechanism, because it’s true name The Matrix: Resurrections sounds so much like The Matrix: Revolutions — easily the most abominable film in the franchise, and perhaps the most abominable big-budget Hollywood movie of the Aughts. But don’t worry, Keanu, all is forgiven, we WILL get fooled again!
After all, San Francisco collectively wet ourselves when the Matrix: Resurrections trailer dropped earlier this month, and it’s time to set out phasers on squee again. Variety reports that The Matrix: Resurrections will have a San Francisco premiere on Saturday, December 18, four days before it arrives in theaters and on HBO Max on Wednesday, December 22.
“Sources tell me that Warner Bros. will hold the film’s U.S. premiere in San Francisco on Dec. 18,” says Variety’s Marc Malkin. “Details, including the location, are still being worked on.”
That’s thinly sourced, but a plausible no-brainer. The film was shot here and in Berlin, and of course the more lucrative U.S. audience is going to get thrown the bone. But where will the premiere be? The Castro Theatre is a well-equipped single-screen movie house. But we’d bet on the SF Opera House, a much glitzier facility where they had the Game of Thrones Season 5 premiere back in 2015.
This is also an excellent chance to whip up excitement, as after last year’s nothingburger of a Christmas movie season, Matrix: Resurrections will have stiff competition from West Side Story, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Sherlock Holmes 3.
You will notice there is not an original concept in the bunch. That’s Hollywood for you these days, but most of these are big titles that have been held back because of COVID-19. And on the topic of bloated sequels and reboots, Slashgear points out a super fun fact. Before COVID interfered, the fourth installments two Keanu Reeves franchises, Matrix:Resurrections and John Wick 4, were both originally scheduled to be released on the exact same day, this past May 21.
Image: Warner Bros.
