Matrix 4 Coming Soon

[The Dark Knight]

So, Resurrections is available now for purchase on iTunes. Apparently, physical media will be released in March.

John Wick has the energy of the original Matrix trilogy and is the natural evolution/continuation of that model. The action in Wick is some of the best you'll see anywhere, so the action being a disappointment in Resurrections can't be down to Keanu's age. I'm at peace with the fact the Matrix is likely done. The story came to a neat coda, and Wick lives on at least for another two films.

[The Laughing Fish]

Village Roadshow are suing WB over The Matrix Resurrections getting impacted by HBO Max. The lawsuit accuses the studio of "deliberately harming the film's box office to prop up HBO Max, at the expense of the future viability of the franchise".

Damning words. A copy of the full 50-page legal document is available to read, right at the end of this article.

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/matrix-resurrections-village-roadshow-sues-warner-bros-1235173757/

[thecolorsblend]

I've been waiting for something like this. And when you think about it, The Matrix Resurrections is just about the perfect vehicle for some type of lawsuit. In Hollywood, my hunch is that most people don't want to bite the hand that feeds them. There's no guarantee it'll go as smoothly for you as it did for Scarlett Johansson.

But Village Roadshow has skin in the game, seemingly not much to lose and, most of all, I think they have a real case on this. Assuming that WB didn't make some sort of arrangement with VR... well, I'm no attorney. But I'm thinking this will get very interesting.

[The Dark Knight]

As I recently stated:

I hate the critics as much as anybody, but we're lying to ourselves if we pretend poor reviews don't hurt a film. They certainly smashed The Matrix Resurrections, which had the double hit of the streaming option which just about everyone who saw the film took.

People can point and laugh at the pitiful box office total for Resurrections and say it was simply a bad movie and deserved what it got. But HBO Max did inflict huge damage. I'm sure Lana and even Keanu expressed apprehension about the streaming option for Resurrections, but I can't find the articles in question at the moment. The question that needs to be asked is what level of importance do we place on brick and mortar cinemas? If we want them to remain strong, encumbrances need to be cut away.

As The National Association of Theatre Owners said, "simultaneous release is a pandemic-era artefact that should be left to history with the pandemic itself. The only real threat to the future of cinema is from bad business decisions driven by the heedless rush to streaming."

It's also a free hit for piracy with pristine digital versions floating around the web. I'm not going to elaborate on other issues, but bottom line, all Convid-1984 measures, which are built on lies, propaganda, ignorance and laziness, need to go. Village Roadshow are absolutely right in the way they outline their lawsuit, and in an ideal world they would win the case. But the courtroom is another construct that has largely been compromised to ensure the continuation of the overall agenda.

[The Joker]

Of course a dual release was going to have an impact, but how much of any impact has been varied. Village Roadshow really should have gotten ahead of this like Legendary did with "Godzilla vs Kong", cause waiting around and going along with the program until this movie fell off a cliff, choosing to sue only after the fact, is going to be more of a uphill climb.

Other simultaneous releases didn't crash and burn like "Matrix Resurrections" did (GvK, Dune, even Disney's Black Widow), and no doubt about it, those films are going to be examples WB will be citing as an out.

Personally, I'm still amazed this movie's budget was around $190 million. Jesus Marimba!

[thecolorsblend]

Of course a dual release was going to have an impact, but how much of any impact has been varied. Village Roadshow really should have gotten ahead of this like Legendary did with "Godzilla vs Kong", cause waiting around and going along with the program until this movie fell off a cliff, choosing to sue only after the fact, is going to be more of a uphill climb.

I'm no attorney. But you can't sue for damages until damages have been incurred. Village Roadshow would've needed to wait until after the movie came out to take legal action like this.

[The Laughing Fish]

According to the allegations made by Village Roadshow, WB have been manipulative and trying to force them out of the rights of not only The Matrix, but spin-off projects involving Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Edge of Tomorrow.

WB Has Acted In Bad Faith to Deprive Village Roadshow of Its Legal and Contractual Rights To Invest in and Co- Own Valuable Derivative Works

19. WB's efforts to promote its own interests at the expense of Village Roadshow are not limited to its attempts to prop up HBO Max. WB has also been devising various schemes to deprive Village Roadshow of its continuing rights to co-own and co-invest in the Derivative Works from the films it co-owns. Recently, after acknowledging—in writing—that its tellingly named upcoming film, Wonka, was a prequel to Village Roadshow's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, WB did an about-face, claiming the prequel was not a prequel and the original picture, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was not one in which Village Roadshow had unqualified Derivative Rights. WB's tortured excuses do not hold up to even the lightest scrutiny.

20. More recently, WB made the decision to go forward with a television series based on Edge of Tomorrow, another Village Roadshow film. But it insisted that Village Roadshow relinquish its co-finance and co-ownership rights voluntarily. When Village Roadshow refused, WB said the quiet part out loud: it will not allow Village Roadshow to benefit from any of its Derivative Rights going forward, despite the over $4.5 billion it has paid WB to make and distribute 91 films. In other words, if Village Roadshow won't give up its rights, WB will make sure they are worth nothing.

21. WB's admission leaves no doubt that its conduct is simply a thinly-veiled effort to eliminate Village Roadshow's rights going forward so that it can keep for itself valuable Derivative Rights to tent pole films and use those films (and future creative derivative products arising from those films) to steer would-be theatergoers to HBO Max, thereby gaining billions in enterprise value.

The Matrix Resurrections was supposed to come out this year, but it was moved to the end of 2021 instead, making it the last same day release on HBO Max. Poor performance of the film at the box office makes it difficult for VR to continue their contractual payment, so they are at risk of losing all control of the IP. Pretty dirty, but not very surprising after what WB did to Justice League. Sabotaging productions to gain full commercial and artistic control is their MO. The only difference is JL was a case of a director's vision torn apart, with VR they appear to be screwing over another company.

If Discovery is serious about rebuilding the studio, they have to be livid about this bad PR.

[thecolorsblend]

More than once, I've wondered what legal options Discovery might have. For example, might they have the power to tell WB to stand down on making any further big decisions until after the merger has been completed?

I honestly don't know. Any corporate merger will make for a legal nightmare, logistical nightmare, etc. Since the process is already complicated enough, you'd think both parties would have some sort of clause about not creating additional chaos or making decisions that will result in bad press.

The fact that MR's release date got moved forward on the schedule to allow for a dual release may yet benefit VR tho. They're alleging bad faith and the changed release date seems like good evidence of that to me.

This process might drag on for a year or more. But I wouldn't be terribly surprised if someone from Discovery doesn't ultimately pull rank and force a settlement just to get this off everyone's collective plate.

[The Joker]

I'm no attorney. But you can't sue for damages until damages have been incurred. Village Roadshow would've needed to wait until after the movie came out to take legal action like this.

The precedent was already there for VR to take legal action once WB decided to publicly announce MR was going to be apart of their attention seeking HBO Max 2021 dual release strategy. Nearly a year prior to MR's scheduled release date.

Legendary not only got their money for GvK, but also apparently negotiated compensation for potential loss of profit participation with Dune and that franchise. Well before Dune's release date.

With this lawsuit, as is, about the best VR can hope for is to acquiesce for some sort of settlement. As once the merger with Discovery is finalized, they may very well just want to wash their hands of the matter and move on.

[The Dark Knight]

I did not see this coming. I thought after Resurrections the entire franchise was done and never to be seen again. But no. We are getting a fifth movie.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/the-matrix-new-movie-drew-goddard-1235865603/

Resurrections was fine story wise. It was lacking in the action department. I'm here for this, even though I'm certain many will be saying how unnecessary it is and the like. I love the mythology of the franchise and if it means Keanu and Carrie-Anne coming back, then hell yes. I'm also still waiting for the day we get another videogame, which this announcement can only help.