Red pill or blue pill, anyone?
The beloved 鈥淢atrix鈥 movie franchise is expanding with an upcoming fifth installment, with the film鈥檚 original co-writer and co-director Lana Wachowski leading the charge as executive producer.
According to a press release from the film鈥檚 studio Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group sent on Wednesday, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Drew Goddard will write and direct the film alongside his producing partner Sarah Esberg. (Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group is a subsidiary of CNN鈥檚 parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.)
Jesse Ehrman, Warner Bros. Motion Pictures President of Production, said in a statement on Wednesday that Goddard 鈥渃ame to Warner Bros. with a new idea that we all believe would be an incredible way to continue the Matrix world, by both honouring what Lana and Lilly (Wachowski) began over 25-years ago and offering a unique perspective based on his own love of the series and characters.鈥
Details on the plot and casting, including whether 鈥淢atrix鈥 franchise star Keanu Reeves will return as his iconic character Neo, have not yet been released.
A representative for Reeves did not immediately respond to CNN鈥檚 request for comment about the new project.
Goddard made his directorial debut with 2011鈥檚 lauded horror movie 鈥淭he Cabin in the Woods,鈥 and went on to write and executive produce 鈥淭he Martian鈥 in 2015, earning an Oscar nod for best adapted screenplay in the process.
鈥淭he Matrix鈥 premiered in 1999 and stars Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving and Carrie-Anne Moss. The dystopian sci-fi epic follows Neo (Reeves), a computer hacker who is summoned to join a cyber-intelligence rebellion after discovering that humanity is trapped inside a simulated reality known as the Matrix.
The now-classic first film raked in over US$467 million at the time and became one of the year鈥檚 most profitable theatrical releases. It went on to win four Academy Awards and spawned three sequels, including 鈥淭he Matrix Reloaded鈥 and 鈥淭he Matrix Revolutions鈥 in 2003, and 鈥淭he Matrix Resurrections鈥 in 2021.
Throughout the franchise鈥檚 25-year lifespan, it has earned just under US$2 billion globally, according to the studio.