Lilly Wachowski explains why she’s not involved with The Matrix Resurrections
The filmmaker says going back to the project felt "expressly unappealing"
Film News Lilly
With The Matrix Resurrections premiere date rounding the corner, filmmaker Lilly Wachowski has opened up about why she declined joining the fourth installment. Lilly, along with her sister Lana Wachowski, directed the iconic science fiction trilogy together that’s coming back to life after nearly 20 years.
“There was something about the idea of going backwards and being a part of something that I had done before that was expressly unappealing,” Wachowski said at Showtime’s TCA panel for Work in Progress. “Like, I didn’t want to have gone through my transition and gone through this massive upheaval in my life, the sense of loss from my mom and dad, to want to go back to something that I had done before and sort of walk over old paths that I had walked in, felt emotionally unfulfilling and really the opposite. Like I was going to go back and live in these old shoes in a way. And I didn’t want to do that.”
In addition to the loss of her parents and undergoing her transition in 2016, Lilly experienced burnout within the filmmaking profession. After creating the first season of Sense8 with Lana, Lilly decided to step back from the second season. This was the first time in their career the sisters took on solo projects.
“That’s a tough one,” Lilly began. “I got out of my transition and was just completely exhausted because we had made Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Ascending, and the first season of Sense8 back-to-back-to-back. We were posting one, and prepping the other at the exact same time. So you’re talking about three 100-plus days of shooting for each project, and so, coming out and just being completely exhausted, my world was like, falling apart to some extent even while I was like, you know, cracking out of my egg. So I needed this time away from this industry. I needed to reconnect with myself as an artist and I did that by going back to school and painting and stuff.’”
While Lana gears up for the premiere of The Matrix Resurrections in December, Lilly has her own ongoing projects. Lilly is currently working on the Showtime series Work In Progress, where she serves as the showrunner, executive producer, writer, and director. The first season of the series aired in 2019, and it was the first project Lilly took on after leaving Sense8. The comedy follows a woman named Abby who is a 46-year-old “self-identified fat, queer dyke” whose misfortune and despair unexpectedly lead her to a vibrantly transformative relationship. The second season premiered earlier this week.
“It felt like a new thing that I could go do and be myself in, more than go back and do the same thing that I sort of did before,” Lilly said on Tuesday’s panel. “And so, like Lana made [Matrix 4] for different reasons… I can’t speak for her, but that’s what I was feeling at the time.”
The Matrix Resurrections opens in theaters on December 22.
135 Comments
The Wachowski’s definitely need an editor to keep them in check. I firmly believe the original Matrix film was only as popular as it was because they blatantly stole material from good sources, (Ghost in the Shell & The Invisibles). Whenever they’re left to their own devices we get films that run an hour too long, filled with tedious pseudo-philosophical drivel and LGBTQ fan-fic scenarios. Yawn. I hope Matrix 4 is good but I’m not holding out much hope.
At first this kind of bummed me out because I was afraid it meant her missing sensibilities/contributions would weaken the final “Wachowski” product. But the obvious “glass half full” alternative is that with them working on separate projects, now we have twice as much output from the Wachowskis, which is a good thing.
It is??? Have you seen any of their movies since the Matrix?
I can see it. Now I kinda wonder why Lana decided to go back to the Matrix well, though – not in a judgy way, but like, what does she see for herself in that project?
Money?
and/or clout. realistically, i have to imagine that getting a big budget project off the ground if you’re one of the twins is going to be a bit of a struggle after cloud atlas and jupiter ascending (and sense8 to an extent.) Lilly clearly is having a good time doing more dramatic and personal TV work, but if Lana wants to get the money to make another jupiter ascending sized flick, re-vitalizing the matrix franchise and making WB a giant pile of cash is probably a smart way to go about that
Oof, what a boring answer.
I mean, sure. But hopefully she also feels like she has fresh ideas and a new story to tell.
Transitioning away from a massive payday is different, and likely more difficult, than that other one.
Huge sums of cash?
Possible the idea that Lana can now bring a new viewpoint and message to a world she previously created, when she was someone different.
I’m not trans, though I have friends who are – I’m not sure how I feel about the “someone different” part. This is who she always was, she just didn’t present that way. That said, everyone changes over 20 years, so I’m not saying she can’t have fresh new ideas and a new story to tell! I’m just curious what her reason would be; it’s not an accusation.
In kind of the same boat – can’t speak to being trans, just knowing people who are – but while initially uncomfortable with the phrasing I do get the comment. Pre- and post-transition there is a personality change, not in terms of changing who they are, but instead changing their comfort level with who they are, if that makes sense. Someone living with hiding/denying part of themselves is going to have a much different artistic perspective than someone who is now more open with their identity.But again, I can’t speak to the trans experience, only to the knowing people who are trans experience.
I’m trans. If you transition later in life, who you are before and who you are after transition can be wildly, wildly different people. For me, I was a black and white sketch of who I thought I was supposed to be – and then I was a superhero in 3D technicolour. A lot of my tastes actually changed completely, because so much of what I listened to or consumed was about surviving or branding myself as the Right Kind of Gender. I think it’ll be very interesting to see what Wachowski makes 🙂
I mean, it seems pretty common for people, trans and cis, to say things like, “I was a different person then,” to express the experience of growing and maturing over time.
Oh, for sure – but as part of the universal human experience; not simply by virtue of being trans. I did note that everyone changes 🙂
Maybe it’s not a project. The Matrix is an (not expressly Christian) ecumenical text, maybe Lana has some actual spiritual stuff to express… or the money.
Hey, now, there’s all those humans still left in the matrix. She couldn’t just ignore them!
Redemption?
After the mixed (at best) reactions to Reloaded and Revolutions, I really don’t see how a nearly-2-decades later followup is going to improve anything.
In fairness, it can’t do any damage that the first two sequels haven’t already done. It’s a comparatively low bar — all it needs to be is less than a total disaster and it’ll be the second best Matrix movie…
I think Matrix: Reloaded is under appreciated. The chateau fight alone is worth the price of admission. Now the third movie…that was a real mess.
Well, at least you judged it before seeing a single frame of the film. That’s definitely an improvement over all those people who waited until they actually *saw* Reloaded and Revolutions before passing judgement.
By doing something different than those sequels most likely. 2 decades means they can crack it open for all sorts of new story ideas. So far it sounds like the movie will be pretty meta.
As much as I think the Matrix sequels are… fine, there’s something appealing to me about a filmmaker returning to the franchise that made their career after 20+ years behind the camera, and giving it another go. Sure, it could be another Prometheus, but it might be a Mad Max: Fury Road. In both cases, massively interesting.
Great analogies. What others are there?
Episode 1.
Ouch, true
Crystal Skull
it’s not quite the same thing but martin campbell introducing both bronsnan and craig as james bond was some neat symmetry. there was a 10 year gap between bad boys and bad boys 2 haha.
To a lesser (shorter) degree, Kevin Smith with Clerks 2 (12 years after the first) and now Clerks 3 (16 years after the second, 28 years after the first).
If we aren’t talking about strictly franchises, but instead films with clear thematic similarities, these three directors come to mind.
Martin Scorsese with The Irishman, 24 years after Casino, 29 years after Goodfellas, and 46 years after Mean Streets.
Quentin Tarantino with The Hateful Eight, 23 years after Reservoir Dogs.
And even though he wasn’t directing the earliest films, Clint Eastwood with Unforgiven, 19 years after High Plains Drifter, and 26 years after The Dollars Trilogy.
Halloween 2018
Godfather Part III?
Avatar, almost?Or Split (which was good) and Glass (which was not)
Rocky Balboa and Creed with the Rocky movies.
Twin Peaks came to mind for me.
Godfather 3, The Prequel Trilogy, Crystal Skull and Glass.
Not all amazing, but I certainly watched each one.
The Star Wars prequels.
Sticking just to original directors, there’s Kevin Smith’s return to the View Askewniverse after the failing of Jersey Girl. And the Rocky and Rambo sequels.
Or the Godfather III which was sixteen years after Godfather II. And Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. T2 Trainspotting was 21 years later. I think of those, the Rocky, Wall Street, and T2 were the best received. But for Rocky that might be the return to it being a serious movie after being a cartoon for III and IV.
Seven years between Terminator and Terminator 2?
The Matrix sequels are good. Prometheus is good. Fury Road is good.
And three out of four ain’t bad?
this is a spectacular point
As a big fan of both Prometheus and Fury Road, I agree.
Honestly, the only good argument I’ve heard for this movie to date.
Agree. Hopefully they can retcon 2 and 3 and make Neo an actual Messiah and that the machines came up with the Architects speech to subvert the human freedom fighters being close to winning.
I’m on the fence. I completely agree with you, but at the same time, I’m curious to see how this turns out. I’m a fan of all three of the original movies (even if the sequels are meh), but I never saw them in theaters. I plan to see this one in theaters to make up for missing the originals.
Honestly, enough time has passed where there’s literally an entire generation of college-aged kids who weren’t even born when The Matrix was released, and thus don’t realize how big of a shift it ushered in when it came to filmmaking as a whole. They probably look back at all three of the originals as something completely old hat and rather chintzy compared to what they’ve grown up watching (and perhaps more importantly, what they’ve grown up playing, in regards to videogames).
I’m lucky enough that I was just the right age of The Matrix to be mindblowing (I was 9). Now, at 30, and being a bit of a cinema buff, I’m looking out for and expecting much different things than I was at a kid, but that’s a good thing. If I want nostalgia, I can watch the original and relive those same feelings because I actually experienced them at the time.
On the other hand, can it make things much worse?
Some Hollywood exec you’d make.
We could always remake them all from scratch… new directors and everything.
Everything good about the Matrix was stolen from other sources. There’s been plenty of time for new content to come out they can steal from for this sequel, so, yay?
I bet Lilly feels the same way.
Honestly the first one is a bit dumb too. Much more fun, but still dumb. I blame the battery plot, which WB forced on the Wachowskis because they thought audiences were too stupid to understand a neural network plot. They might be right, but your average mechanic from Iowa knows how batteries work
Ok, now I’m intrigued what the machines needed humans for in terms of building a neural network, because, yeah, that battery thing was dumb. I brushed it off at the time because it at least gave the machines an excuse to keep us around, rather than nuking us like in Terminator.
Same, I could go along with the idea, and back when I was 12 I didn’t even really pay attention to why, I just enjoyed the ride.
Were people really watching the Matrix and judging it based on whether it was realistic for machines to use people as batteries, though? I know I wasn’t. The answer is obviously “sci-fi magic”.
“Were people really watching the Matrix and judging it based on whether it was realistic for machines to use people as batteries, though? I know I wasn’t. The answer is obviously “sci-fi magic”.”I was. When I saw it in the cinema I immediately thought “surely it would make more sense for the machines to need the humans as an unconscious/unwilling neural net like in Hyperion? The humans give processing power to the machines, in return they experience the matrix to keep them humming along and not glitching into consciousness. If they just want humans for energy, why not just set fire to the food you are intravenously feeding them?”Turns out that was the original idea, and they had to replace it with a really stupid one.
I mean, I guess it all seemed preposterous to me as far as “realism” was concerned. The exploitation and dehumanization was surely the point.
Three words: light-hearted musical.
Simple. Neo is going to end up a Lumberjack.
And that’s okay!
For most situations I’d agree but I always felt one of the big things that sunk those Matrix sequels was the case of two young filmmakers being given the keys to candy store and gorging to the point of excess now that they were given carte blanche on their own Sci Fi franchise. I think people forget that along with two back to back movies the Wachowskis were also trying to tie in the Anime shorts, the video game AND The Matrix MMO all into one cohesive story, while also trying to explore the philosophical elements of the Matrix mythos AND getting a chance to play with newer and more expensive special effects. They were trying to do too much at once and within a VERY small window of time.Now there’s been twenty years and less of an incentive to try to do this mixed media expansive lore stuff. Just focus on a movie.
Don’t see that it’ll necessarily hurt anything, either.
A MILLION Agent Smiths this time.
David Mitchell writing it means I am intrigued.
You speak the true-true.
From what I’ve heard of the story, it doesn’t seem like they’re going anywhere too interesting either
I mean, Hollywood keeps making Hulk, Spiderman and Suicide Squad movies for some reason.
“There was something about the idea of going backwards and being a part of something that I had done before that was expressly unappealing,”Damn, way to throw shade at your sister.
Why is that shade? Some people are nostalgic, some are not. Saying “I’m not nostalgic” isn’t throwing shade at people who are.
Also, why do you have to be a cunt and assume ill-will? Why not fuck off and die instead?
Just because she sees things one way doesn’t mean she thinks its wrong for her sister or anyone else to view things differently. People have different opinions and motivations.
Uh… she didn’t? If you read the full quote she explains her very personal reasons that factored into the decision and didn’t in any way imply that Lana was selling out.
Yes, she did. Just because she articulated her reasons for not wanting to return to the project she didn’t take the time to wish her sister success on it. IMHO, it was a curious – and damning – omission.
I don’t think she was throwing shade. She means she doesn’t want to revisit something she did in her life pre-transition. It’s more of a personal choice than an artistic one.
Well, she could have said, “In retrospect, I have come to realize how completely moronic and worthless the original trilogy was at every conceivable level, and I want to live out the rest of my life with some modicum of dignity.”
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that’s your opinion and not hers
I mean, she made the right choice. Basically every movie they’ve made since the original Matrix has been pure ass (with some admittedly cool fleeting moments), so breaking up the band is GREAT idea.I’m looking forward to a rehashed Matrix like I’m looking forward to a sequel to Speed Racer, or maybe another three hours of Tom Hanks in a lame fake nose, or maybe more Channum Tatum space puppy.
I can’t begin to imagine what it felt like to go through those things at that point in her life, but I can absolutely understand not wanting to revisit it.
Huh that’s basically the same way I feel about it, neat!
That’s completely understandable. But I’m still very excited about the new Matrix.
If only they’d felt that way after the first movie and spared us 2 and 3.
Hey, they can make all the movies they want, what needs to stop is them forcing you to watch said movies. THAT crosses a line.
It’s not surprising that siblings might have different opinions on going back and revisiting old work. They are separate people after all.
It must be weird to revisit a franchise that is such a symbol to a certain group of assholes. Obviously the Matrix is way bigger and has more broad appeal than those groups, but if it were my movie I would be tempted to pause halfway through the movie and have Neo turn to the camera to say “The red pill is not a metaphor for jumping dick first into blatant misogyny.”
Id absolutely love that. Those assholes always work backwards to forget the creators of the Matrix are trans.
Also Fight Club
Man, it’s hilarious how certain groups grabbed onto some ideas of that movie, while completely missing its actual point and basically experiencing the exact same failings as the protagonist. It seems like this happens a lot with slickly made movies though. How many people take the wrong message from Goodfellas, Scarface, etc.?
And always forget that the movies are literally about transitioning and being reborn as your proper self.
Except that is such a completely generic idea that some take to mean transgender and others take to mean any variety of “awakening” to political ideologies.
Call it what you want, I’m just referencing actual interviews with the Wachowskis that state or allude to this.
I know those interviews, thing is they’ve gone both ways on it across the years.Obviously there are parallels to gender transition but it’s hardly extremely specific to that (hence why every group on the planet has used and claimed the first film in particular over the years).
Well a good metaphorical story wouldn’t have one rigid meaning. Plus, a story about a person finding his true body while fighting a villain, who calls him a disgusting virus and deadnames him, seems like a decent metaphor for the experience of transition to me.
That still fits with the internal logic of many political groups and ideologies who’ve attempted to claim the film as theirs too have created.Not saying I can’t see it as a trans narrative but the claims it was definitely so don’t match up with more contemporaneous statements.
Um yeah. I’m not understanding why “This story isn’t narrowly tailored to mean only one thing,” is a criticism. Also, I’m hardly surprised that contemporaneous accounts don’t address a trans narrative. Since neither sister was out yet, for one.
I’m not criticising it for being broad, I’m contesting the idea people “missed” the trans reading of it by saying it was so broad everyone from 1999 onwards found someway to co-opt the film’s message unlike V for Vendetta where the film adaption is openly anti-authoritarian.
I think leaving it open to interpretation was the right choice, though I wish some of those groups would look into it beyond it’s superficial qualities and understand it’s not for them.
Are we talking about the popular theory that The Matrix is an allegory about being trans? Who are the assholes in this scenario?
No, I’m referring to the subreddit The Red Pill, which was a major gateway to misogyny, hate, and pick-up artistry for a decade. It’s where the seeds to the modern incel movement began to truly bloom, and as a result some of horrific violence visited on women in recent years.I support the idea that The Matrix is a story of transitioning, the Wachowskis have said as much in the past.
No I think he’s taking about how the Reddit and Chans board have used the term “taking the red pill” to mean being enlightened to a new shitty idea. Like Men’s rights or QAnon.
Pour yourself a stiff drink, buckle up and then Google “red pill.” A single scene from the Matrix has been turned into a whole lot of bullshit since.
It really bugs me because I love The Matrix. Why can’t assholes commandeer concepts from some shitty misogynistic action film, there’s a ton of them to choose from?Edited to add: the best way to troll these assholes is to have Neo be a woman this time….
Well, they’ve already done that with two films I enjoy. Boondock Saints and Fight Club.
Believe me, I feel ya. I’m a Punisher fan. Frank Castle would deliver swift justice to all those racist cops that beat up protesters while wearing his symbol, but he ain’t real.
I just re-watched the Matrix after 15 years or something. What a fun movie. It really is something special. There is some serious prophetic symbolism in that film. The other 2? Diminishing returns.But still – the Wachowskis are brilliant, and they always try to say something substantial in their work. I hope they bring newer philosophical ideas to the fore, and not just re-tread what the other films underscored.
What a fun movie.
I’m guessing that you think that having a root canal is fun, too. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I think that it’s only fair to the rest of us that you let us know what the bar is that you’re setting for “fun.”
Judging from your completely out of pocket comment, nobody would really care to understand what your bar for “fun” is either.
Looks like we’ve got a new troll burner in our midst. New account there bud? Who let you out of the greys?
Hey look, we are having a hard time down here in the greys. All our best trolls keep dying from coronavirus so we just are not giving you our top people.
The grey that I can’t respond to. I’d star you if Kinja would let me.
The bar is “root canals.”
“I’m guessing that you think that having a root canal is fun, too.”
Why so sad?
Agreed – I watched it a few years ago, and I’d forgotten how entertaining it is. I’d also forgotten how many scenes involve the main characters killing the shit out of cops – the sequels shifted focus toward more fantastical enemies (or generic private-security types). Also, delighted by the troll who’s in here trying to make it seem weird that someone would find a well-made action movie fun. “I find ice cream delicious!” “It’s only fair to the rest of us that you let us know what the bar is that you’re setting for ‘delicious.’”Wow, typing that sentence drives home just how many extra words it contains.
So what I’m hearing is the past is the past and she isn’t into … Resurrections.
I love the Wachowskis. I think the two sequels to The Matrix are fantastic—especially Reloaded, which is maybe my favorite of the series so far. I totally get not wanting to jump back into that world, but who knows? I’m sure Lana has a great take, and knowing what I do from a small in with someone working on the film, all I’ll say is that it sounds pretty cool.
I want to be your friend. I also think all three (and the Animatrix) are great. Fantastic world building, cool fight scenes and Monica Belucci.
And nobody ever talks about Reloaded’s soundtrack ,which is just miles better than the first one, and overall a solid listening track on my playlist
It doesn’t matter if racing never changes.What matters is if we let racing change us.
It’s *WAR*, damn it. War never changes.
Yet another way in which it’s the opposite of love, which changes everything.
Even if Speed Racer wasn’t my full-stop favorite movie, it would definitely be my favorite movie about filmmaking.
Because their sequels sucked? That was an easy explanation. Really, it can be argued that they got lucky with the Matrix because everything they have done since has been mediocre to bad
Sense8 is pretty wonderful.
I wish they’d go back and finish the Doc Frankenstein comic they started back in… 2004 I think? It was really good, and the last issue came out when George W Bush was president.
There was a hardcover released in 2019 with 64 new pages that “adds 64 NEW PAGES to COMPLETE the story”, according to the Amazon listing. It’s called “Doc Frankenstein: The Post Modern Prometheus”.
https://www.amazon.in/Doc-Frankenstein-Post-Modern-Prometheus/dp/178773479X
There you go, they did finish it and released the ending 1,5 year ago 🙂
Oh my god! I had no idea they finished it. This made my day, seriously. Thanks.
what a great photo of her!
I recently revisited the trilogy; I’m not sure if it’s because I’m older with a more mature eye or if it’s because the world and context changed in 20 years, but the sequels are vastly better than I remember. If anything I have the opposite view of college me. Except for the highway fight, in Reloaded the action sequences are actually what’s a little overindulgent. The Burly Brawl is just a little much, but almost everything involving the Merovingian feels like a Tom Bombadil level detour: vaguely interesting, but could ultimately be cut without losing much.
But the introduction of the Architect, learning that The One is NOT some messiah but just yet another means of control… a lot of that subversion of and commentary went right over my head in college so I could instead talk about how much smarter the philosophy classes I was taking were than this. And then Revolutions. Solid action, plus the twin hits of everything having been a chess game between The Oracle and The Architect along with resolving the conflict by making peace with your adversary and joining forces to eliminate the mutual threat of nihilism… the whole thing is better than I remembered both artistically and thematically.
The Matrix may the best of the three but I think about the ideas in Part 2 and Part 3 (+ some of the Animatrix) a lot more, especially what you said about the Architect (his first scene when he meets Neo is my favourite of the entire series).
directed the iconic science fiction movie
ftfy
The Matrix is a masterpiece of pop filmmaking. Speed Racer is a glorious piece of big screen candy. Everything else they have made is at the very least ambitious and sometimes wondrous. I’m not a big fan of Revolutions but even it is hugely ambitious in terms of filmmaking. I’m excited to see what’s coming.
I really, really liked Sense8 – it’s a bit of a mess, but it’s a beautiful, joyous mess that celebrates humanity.
the fight scenes are the only reason to watch the matrix sequels.I read Yuen Woo Ping isn’t the fight choreographer this time round, which is a shame.
The “Work in Progress” production is much loved in Chicago and especially Andersonville where much of the show is filmed. From the scenes shot outside my apartment this summer, there’s going to be some impressive visuals coming.