Zak Penn Clarifies Why His ‘The Matrix’ Project Is Not A Reboot

Writer Zak Penn has hinted that the Matrix project he's working on is not a reboot, but it just might be an anthology akin to The Animatrix.

The Matrix 4 Keanu Reeves Neo

Screenwriter Zak Penn (The Avengers) has previously stated that we shouldn’t think of the new The Matrix project that he’s writing as a reboot. Today, he took to Twitter to hint at what it really is – and his wording suggests that we might be getting an anthology of sorts.

Penn first started a short Twitter thread clarifying, again, that the script he’s working on is not a reboot. More interestingly, he also noted that it’s not a follow-up to Neo’s story, but another tale telling a story set in the universe:

The Animatrix is – as the name implies – an anime anthology of short movies concerning the nature of the Matrix itself, but the stories told within don’t concern themselves with any of the main characters. In the meantime, the comics had a similar approach, but featured more out-there concepts as well. So given that the movie isn’t a reboot and it’s not a sequel, it can be safe to imagine that the project is a one-off of sorts that might lead into other potential spin-offs, akin to what Star Wars recently did with Rogue One. It’s also possible that, like The Animatrix, the movie could tell multiple short stories in a feature-length timespan.

Penn also noted that the project he’s working on is still very early in development, and that they’re not anywhere near ready to begin pre-production on the movie just yet:

While it’s certainly possible that an official sequel to The Matrix Revolutions will be made (should this spin-off do well), Penn is making it clear that this project is not that, but it’s own thing altogether. The setting lends itself to experimentation by its nature of being a massive simulation, so the sky is effectively the limit with this franchise.

Zak Penn’s untitled Matrix movie has not been given a release date.

Source: Zak Penn