Resurrections' Box Office Failure Kills All Hope For The Matrix 5

Resurrections' Box Office Failure Kills All Hope For The Matrix 5

The Matrix Resurrections has earned mixed reviews from many critics, but its disastrous box office take has likely killed any chance of a Matrix 5.

The box office failure of The Matrix Resurrections has likely killed any chances of a Matrix 5 happening. For nearly 20 years, basically, everyone believed the Matrix franchise had ended for good, at least as far as the main movie series. The Matrix Revolutions brought things to a pretty conclusive finish, with Neo and Trinity both seemingly dead, and at least temporary peace having been brokered between humans and machines. While that film was very divisive, it did at least seem to provide closure to the story.

Then along came The Matrix Resurrections to end 2021. Keanu Reeves was back as Neo, Carrie-Ann Moss was back as Trinity, and even Matrix co-creator Lana Wachowski returned to direct. Many had high hopes for this grand return to the matrix world, but, sadly, the response to The Matrix Resurrections has been mixed at best. Reviews from critics, while far from terrible, were also far from great. The response from audiences was arguably even more divided, with there seeming to be almost no middle ground between loving the sequel and hating it.

Those who did enjoy The Matrix Resurrections held out some hope for a Matrix 5 to materialize. Despite Wachowski and Reeves downplaying the possibility, the ending of Resurrections clearly leaves the door open for another adventure with the reunited Neo and Trinity. Unfortunately, The Matrix Resurrections' box office haul has been anemic, earning a mere $125 million worldwide after several weeks of release. That makes it far and away the lowest-grossing Matrix movie to date, and it would have to earn $300 million more in theaters to even overtake The Matrix Revolutions' worldwide total.

While some might argue that The Matrix Resurrections' box office potential was hampered by its simultaneous release on HBO Max, and there's indeed some merit to that assertion, there were other films released at home and in theaters that ended up a lot more profitable. With a reported budget of almost $200 million, The Matrix Resurrections also has a much longer way to go to even begin to make a profit for Warner Bros after marketing costs. Time will tell if the sequel's release coincided with a spike in HBO Max subscriptions that might've put money in WB's pockets. Even then, it would have an uphill climb. All that considered, WB has almost zero incentive to want to invest in making a Matrix 5.

One wonders if The Matrix Resurrections' could've performed better had it been exclusive to theaters, but at the same time, its mediocre reviews likely hurt its image as a blockbuster that demanded the big screen and sound only a theater can provide. If a movie's not supposed to be good, there's less incentive to leave the house to go see it. The polarized audience response to The Matrix Resurrections also no doubt prevented it from recovering at the box office after its slight opening weekend. Unless The Matrix Resurrections is an absolute monster best-seller on home video, it's almost impossible to imagine a Matrix 5 happening, despite The Matrix Resurrections setting it up. Whether that's good or bad is up for debate.