![]() Not all sequels and extended IP projects are necessarily bad- Avengers: Endgame is not only the highest-grossing movie of 2019 but the highest-grossing worldwide release of all time. Even the two Matrix sequels came together to gross more than $1 billion. But it made half a billion dollars at the box office domestically and almost a billion more worldwide. The second-highest-grossing film of the year is The Lion King, an uncanny and unnecessary photorealistic facsimile of the beloved Disney film that was released this summer to thunderous peals of ambivalence. Few revived franchises, if any, have suffered such painful lessons in the wisdom of leaving well enough alone.īut that hasn’t stopped the sequel craze from dominating major studio filmmaking, which is an enterprise driven by commercial considerations more than artistic ones. ![]() It’s easy to mock this latest Matrix sequel because the last two- The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, both released in 2003-were such critical failures, dropping with a clatter on a pile of similarly regrettable sci-fi follow-up acts like Star Trek Into Darkness, Prometheus, and the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Without the underpinning familiarity of a book, comic, or previous film-of which The Matrix had none-would a studio give a pair of relatively unknown directors $63 million (almost $100 million in today’s money) to make an R-rated sci-fi movie today? Probably not. It’s possible, even likely, that the inventive, original story that made The Matrix such a special and penetrating pop culture phenomenon when it was released in 1999 would damn the film from ever being made today. ![]() Hollywood loves nothing more than a film based on existing IP: Of the 10 highest-grossing movies of 2019 so far, nine are sequels, reboots, or part of an extended universe. It was only a matter of time before The Matrix got restarted, just like, well, the Matrix itself, which has to be rebooted periodically. ‘The Matrix’ Changed Everything, but the Little Details Made It Even Greater 1999 Movies Week: A Celebration of the Best Year in Film ‘The Rewatchables 1999’: ‘The Matrix’ Live From SXSW ![]()
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