Village Roadshow Pictures lawsuit against Warner Bros. shows that the company has learned little about the problems that doomed The Matrix Resurrections. The Reeves-Moss-Wachowski reunion was supposed to be a comeback for the franchise and its figureheads. Instead, the film suffered a middling run at the box office, as well as a critical drag through the mud. Now Village Roadshow Pictures, the production company behind The Matrix series—as well as hit Warner Bros. movies like Mad Max: Fury Road and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory—is suing Warner Bros. for damages.
Village Roadshow’s lawsuit alleges that Warner Bros. decision to release The Matrix Resurrections directly to streaming on HBO Max damaged not only the individual movie’s box office returns by allowing HBO Max subscribers to watch the movie at home for free (barring the cost of the streaming subscription), but also the entire Matrix franchise brand. This, Village Roadshow argues, has jeopardized the companies hopes for many lucrative future installments, and that Village Roadshow is owed for the loss.
However, this lawsuit completely shirks responsibility for The Matrix Resurrections documented failure to connect with audiences on an emotional or narrative level. The movie was derided by critics and fans for falling into the “legacy sequel” trap of rehashing and relitigating the merits of the original work instead of simply telling a story. The Matrix Resurrections’ box-office numbers may have taken a hit from it being available to stream, but it also puts the movie’s fundamental failure to entertain audiences conveniently out of sight and mind.
Film and content studios love to complain that a failure is the fault of everybody but the studio itself. When Quibi failed spectacularly in 2020, CEO and long-time film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg incredulously blamed the coronavirus pandemic instead of owning up to the fact that it was foolish to think anybody would willingly pay ten dollars a month for YouTube-quality content. And Warner Bros.’ hybrid-release strategy didn’t stop blockbusters like Godzilla vs. Kong or Dune from attracting large theatrical audiences.
The original Matrix classic is twenty-three years old. While it was a cultural sensation that dominated movie screens across the country, by this point it is likely that more people who have fallen in love with The Matrix did so long after the movies were ever in theaters. It’s a little far-fetched to simply blame streaming for the failure of The Matrix Resurrections. People are still eager to see the right movie in a theater, even when it can be watched at home. All it takes to bring them in is a story worth seeing on the big screen.
