Keanu Reeves is pausing — if not quite pausing time in bullet-time style — to reflect on the legacy of “The Matrix.”
The iconic sci-fi film celebrates its 25th anniversary, and Reeves appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in part to revisit how much “The Matrix” means to audiences.
“‘The Matrix’ changed my life, and then over these years, it’s changed so many other people’s lives in really positive and great ways,” Reeves said. “As an artist, you hope for that when you get to do a film or tell a story.”
He explained, “So when you say these years, the amount of people that I have met who have said to me and been touched by ‘The Matrix’ in such a positive way…It’s the best.”
The 1999 film was written and directed by Lilly and Lana Wachowski. The “Matrix” franchise, including “The Matrix,” “The Matrix Reloaded,” “The Matrix Revolutions,” and most recently, “The Matrix Resurrections,” has earned $1.8 billion globally over the series lifetime. The Wachowskis directed the first three films of the franchise, with Lana Wachowski going solo behind the camera for “The Matrix Resurrections” in 2021.
Reeves previously said during a 2021 interview with Entertainment Tonight that the film was “influential” to the trajectory of cinema as a whole.
“I think the influences that went into ‘The Matrix’ brought those influences to other filmmakers in terms of anime, camera angels, action. [It] started training actors and actresses to try and do more physical acting,” Reeves said. “I think the humor, the style and maybe, well, I don’t know about the ambition. It’s tough to make such an entertaining kind of science fiction film that’s also about philosophy and big ideals.”
He also revealed in a Reddit AMA thread that he still has the red pill from the original film that the Wachowski sisters gave him from the set.
“The Matrix” franchise is continuing with the hip hop dance stage adaptation directed by Academy Award winner Danny Boyle, titled “Free Your Mind.” A new film installment from “The Martian” screenwriter and “The Cabin in the Woods” co-director Drew Goddard is also in the works at Warner Bros. Lana Wachowski is executive producing, but there has been no casting announcement about whether or not Reeves will reprise his role of Neo.
