'The Matrix' Spinoff Is (Maybe) Still Happening — But Don't Ask Keanu Reeves And Laurence Fishburne About It

Back in March, news broke that Warner Bros. was in the early stages of making a new The Matrix film, possibly a reboot. Fans weren't happy about this, especially since Keanu Reeves had wanted to reprise his role as Neo for a sequel, as long as the Wachowskis oversaw it.

Zak Penn was hired to write a film treatment, but cryptically dismissed the reboot rumors on Twitter:

Penn hinted that his project would be set in the original Matrix canon, and would instead be an extension of the original story:

“Can’t comment yet except to say that the words ‘reboot’ and ‘remake’ were from an article. Let’s stop responding to inaccurate news. All I can say at this point is no one could or should REBOOT the Matrix. People who know Animatrix and the comics understand. Do I want to see more stories set in the universe of The Matrix? Yes. Because it’s a brilliant idea that generates great stories. Look at what people are doing with Xmen universe. Between Logan and Legion and Deadpool, does anyone want them to stop? Not me.”

A rumor spread that Michael B. Jordan might star, and Birth Movies Death reported that the project is a Morpheus origin story. However, on Friday, October 6th, Penn updated fans on the screenplay's status and denied that any roles would be recast:

Here's the new statement in full:

Re: the Matrix, yes I’m writing something. Not a reboot, not a continuation, watch Animatrix, read comics to see what wachowskis did... a script in development is not a movie. No casting, director, style can be discussed yet. Nothing to see here folks...yet. no need to put actors or anyone on the spot, because there’s nothing there yet. No reboot or reimagining, no recasting involved. and this is not the point in process that those decisions get made. So many hoops to jump through, the first one I gotta do myself.

Keanu Reeves And Laurence Fishburne Don't Know What's Going On With The Movie

Penn's most recent comments are in response to journalists asking Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne about the spinoff film, specifically whether they'd be involved. Here's what Fishburne told Metro about it:

“I haven’t heard anything that I would believe is true. When I hear something that means that that’s really true then I will talk about it, but not before then.”

Reeves echoed those sentiments today at New York Comic Con:

"Remaking The Matrix. I don’t know. Maybe it’s... I don’t know anything about it."

So, six months after the spinoff rumors began swirling, the franchise's two main stars still know nothing about it. That's concerning to fans — especially since Penn's comments don't give much clarity as to whether this is a prequel or sequel.

Perhaps Michael B. Jordan won't be portraying Morpheus after all? If that's the case, then producers might be intending to head down a completely different path — perhaps something like Rogue One did for the Star Wars universe. But will fans be open to new characters in the same way?

Fans Should Be Patient Until The Studio Figures Out What's Happening

The Matrix without two of its most important characters — Neo and Morpheus — is almost unimaginable. But it's also not unheard of to leave the actors out of the loop until a script is ready to be presented to them ... and scripts can take quite a while to be polished. So it's entirely possible that Warner Bros is waiting until they have something worthy to present to the phenomenal actors before approaching them.

However this plays out, the fanbase is divided on whether or not there should even be another Matrix movie. Some believe the franchise is too legendary to be touched, while others want to pay another visit to Neo's world as long as it's the same one they left when the trilogy ended in 2003 with The Matrix Revolutions.

Odds are good, though, that when the actors know something, we'll know.

[Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, Metro.us, Variety, and IGN]