The Minutes of Our Last Meeting | The Matrix 4
“Don’t worry, Neo. No one ever really dies in Hollywood.”
Warner Bros. Studios
Lana Wachowski’s Office
Attendance: Lana Wachowski, Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Ann Moss
10:00am August 21, 2019
Lana – I am so excited to see the both of you together, again. I want to tell you about my next project. I am over the moon about it. Get ready. Are you ready?
Carrie-Ann – I believe I’m ready.
Keanu – Wait. (pause) Okay. Now, I’m ready.
Lana – Matrix 4.
(Silence)
Lana – What do you think?
Carrie-Ann – I died at the end of Matrix: Revolutions.
Lana – Did you? I thought Morpheus bit the big one. I don’t remember. It was so long ago. I bet most people won’t remember that part.
Keanu – Do I get to fly?
Lana – You bet! And it will look even cooler with today’s technology. We’ll be able to get believable longshots—
Keanu – And fight in slow motion, do that backwards arm thingie where I dodge bullets?
Lana – We’ll do all the cool stuff, of course, and try to find some new ways for you to dodge bullets or rockets or whatever. And even more guns. Guns are popular these days.
Carrie-Ann – Okay. So, let’s say Trinity is somehow still alive, even though she died, what am I going to wear?
Lana – Same outfits for everyone. Lots of tight black leather. Don’t worry, CGI does incredible things these days.
Carrie-Ann – And yet we are picking up these characters lives twenty years later, right? What’s that going to look like, exactly? Is there still a Matrix?
Lana – Well, there has to be. Otherwise, we’d have to call it something else. It also won’t be Matrix 4; we’re just using that for shorthand. We had The Matrix, Matrix: Reloaded, and Matrix: Revolutions… Guess what this one will be called?
Carrie-Ann – Matrix: Retired?
Keanu – Matrix: Rereloaded!
Lana – Matrix: Return. It works on so many levels. We’re returning to the Matrix world. Okay, it just works on one level.
Carrie-Ann – Is there a story?
Lana – Oh, God, yes. Of course, there’s a story. Keanu is hot again. I haven’t had a blockbuster hit since, well, the last Matrix. This is going to make us a lot of money. We also have a ton of footage from the first three films and own the rights to the characters. We could rightfully put together a new film using your images and voices without you even participating.
Keanu – This is so cool! It keeps getting better and better. I’m in.
Carrie-Ann – The machines win, again.
(A DeLorean crashes through the wall of Lana’s office. Emerging from the vehicle are Rufus and Bill S. Preston Esquire.)
Rufus – Don’t do it, Ted.
Bill – It’s a bad idea. Rufus came and got me in the past and showed me a future where you do this film and everyone who was a fan of The Matrix and was super disappointed—
Rufus – And confused!
Bill – And confused by the two sequels, hate Matrix: Retreads even more and hate you for doing a gratuitous franchise sequel after such a long gap. Everyone thinks it’s a cash grab and you’re already rich.
Keanu- Whoa. Can I go for a ride in your DeLorean?
Rufus – It’s not mine, but, sure, Ted, hop on in.
(They all hop in the DeLorean and leave Carrie-Ann and Lana in the office.)
Lana – So, what do you think?
Carrie-Ann- I’ll take the blue pill.
I would much rather see Bill and Neo’s Excellent Adventure: Reloaded.