Directors and former stuntmen Chad Stahelski and David Leitch announced today that they’re returning to The Matrix series to help coordinate the upcoming fourth instalment’s action scenes. In an interview with Collider, the pair discussed coming aboard not to assume full responsibility for guiding all of the movie’s action, but to assist director Lana Wachowski by lending a hand with “the creative concept” and “the choreography and some of the physical training for the guys.”
“I’m helping out a little bit for a sequence, I think Dave [Leitch is] helping out for a sequence,” Stahelski told Collider. “Lana’s come back with a lot of love to have a pseudo-family reunion, so that’s been a lot of fun. It’s been good to see a lot of the crew members again.”
As for what he thinks of the movie so far, Stahelski praises Wachowski for “directing her own action” and said “I think if you’re a fan of the original [Matrix] trilogy you’re gonna love this.” He adds that “from what I know of it, it’s incredibly fun” and that the series is “coming back with a vengeance.”
Stahelski and Leitch have a long history with The Matrix and star Keanu Reeves: both worked on the films’ stunts, with Stahelski standing in as Reeves’ stunt double. More recently, Leitch directed Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Deadpool 2, and Atomic Blonde. He was also an uncredited co-director on the first John Wick film alongside Stahelski, who continued as director for John Wick’s second and third instalments.
The overlaps between The Matrix and John Wick don’t stop there. Though the dates are unlikely to hold among so many other film delays, the fourth Matrix and John Wick were originally planned to share a May 21, 2021 release date. In mid-March, though, the coronavirus pandemic caused The Matrix 4 to halt production just before it was set to shift shooting locations from San Francisco to Berlin.
For more on The Matrix 4, check out a round-up of the details we’ve gathered to date, a set video captured before filming was postponed, and, just to help keep your expectations in check, an argument for why we should maybe be content with the Matrix trilogy as it already is.
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