The production designer of ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ reveals why San Francisco served as the primary location for the world of the Matrix in the film. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss once again reprise their roles as Neo and Trinity, respectively. Lana Wachowski returns to the director's chair with Jada Pinkett Smith also returning to the cast from previous Matrix films as Niobe. New additions to the cast include Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, to name a few.
‘The Matrix Resurrections’ is the fourth film in the ‘Matrix’ franchise and serves as a sequel to the original trilogy which concluded with 2003's ‘The Matrix Revolutions’. The story of the film is set in San Francisco 60 years after the events of the third film and follows Neo living a seemingly ordinary life as Thomas Anderson when a new iteration of Morpheus reaches out to him to reopen his mind to the Matrix and its possibilities by offering him the red pill. After multiple delays due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the film was finally released theatrically on December 22, 2021.
While speaking to SlashFilm about his work on The Matrix Resurrections, production designer Peter Walpole revealed why San Francisco was used as the main location for the new-look world of the Matrix. He said that the goal for the crew was to make the setting of the film look "contemporary." He mentioned that director Lana Wachowski wanted the film to be "based into the heart" of where the story takes place, bringing certain elements of San Francisco into play, like its "architecture," "light," and the remarkable movement of the "San Francisco fog," to create the colorful atmosphere of the Matrix in the latest film.
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