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A popular theory about The Matrix and John Wick has been officially debunked because of coronavirus .
Ever since it was announced that the fourth instalments of each franchise would be released in cinemas on the same day, fans have been wondering whether this was an intentional move.
The theory goes that both The Matrix 4 and John Wick: Chapter 4 would serve as two parts of one story that reveals Keanu Reeves ’ hitman has actually been Neo (also played by Reeves) the entire time, trapped in a Matrix -style simulation.
However, because of the many film delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic, John Wick: Chapter 4 's release date has moved from 21 May 2021 to 27 May 2022.
Director Chad Stahelski previously said: “I mean, Matrix was only four weeks in when this all happened. So, Keanu’s gotta go finish his commitment up on The Matrix , which is a big deal and which I think will probably take him until the end of the year. Then we have to go into our prep mode and then we’ll start.”
As Stahelski mentioned, The Matrix 4 has also had its production shut down, but director Lana Wachowski is yet to comment on a change to its release scheduling.
Should the new John Wick film change release dates, it would certainly put an end to any high-concept theories relating to a crossover between the two films.
It seems like this particular theory was too good to be true, even if it seemed entirely plausible (read more on it here ).
Show all 27 1 /27The 27 worst film sequels of all time The 27 worst film sequels of all time Zoolander 2 Like a reliable friend – or a movie franchise worth millions of dollars – Zoolander returned for another film. In place of a funny script and a decipherable plot, the sequel shoves in endless celebrity cameos. Skrillex, Susan Boyle and Justin Bieber are one of the 39 celebrities that appear in the film, but the force of star power fails to make Zoolander 2 enjoyable.
Rex Features
The 27 worst film sequels of all time I Still Know What You Did Last Summer An island getaway becomes the setting of predictable kills and lazy thrills in this sub-par slasher. Jennifer Love Hewitt, haunted by the events of the first film, leads a cast running for their lives. The implausibly gullible teen characters still scream, the red herrings are still obvious, and we still know how it’s all going to end.
Columbia Pictures
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Jaws 2 Jaws 2 sees the great white original reduced to a lukewarm b-movie filled with bad special effects and clumsy editing. The only positive thing about Jaws 2 is that all the characters are so annoying that it’s actually pretty satisfying watching them get eaten alive. See also Jaws 3, 4 and 5.
Rex Features
The 27 worst film sequels of all time American Psycho 2 He might have been a crazed narcissist, but Patrick Bateman deserved better than this sequel. Thankfully, no one actually remembers that American Psycho 2 exists, or that Mila Kunis is the lead, which is good because it ruins the ambiguous ending of the original film. No amount of peppermint sheet masks could ever clean this mess of a movie up.
Rex Features
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights Deciding to leave Baby in the corner, Havana Nights shares little with the original Dirty Dancing. Patrick Swayze’s simmering dance instructor becomes a charisma deprived pool boy. Our heroine has been replaced by an uptight WASP and worst of all there’s no overhead lift. Your eyes will be left hungry for more.
Lionsgate
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Titanic II Even if you don’t like James Cameron’s 1997 Oscar-winning behemoth, it’s hard to forget the iconic image of a ship and its passengers meeting their watery doom. The digital effects of Titanic II, however, look like a child’s version of the original’s visuals. The plot – about a boat literally named Titanic II that takes its maiden voyage 100 years after the first – is equally creaky.
The Asylum
The 27 worst film sequels of all time The Sting II Ten years after the original film, Mac Davis and Jackie Gleason fill in for Paul Newman and Robert Redford in this heist remake. Considering the movie’s clumsy mobster dialogue and slow-moving plot, the audience in 1983 might have felt like they were the ones who had really been hoodwinked.
Universal
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 The original Blair Witch changed the face of horror forever, inspiring hysteria with its cheap but innovative found-footage hook. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 has better production values, but manages to be far less clever. A group of students visiting the first film’s location find themselves in danger, and the plot unravels from there.
Haxan Films
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Rambo First Blood: Part 2 John Rambo is stripped of any the nuance he had in the first film, becoming an all-American macho cliche and increasing his body count through cartoonish violence. The ex-soldier tears through Vietnam to rescue American prisoners of war as a one man army, seemingly impervious to bullets or logic. If the absurd plot doesn’t jar for you, the politics probably will.
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Given the global recession that hung over this follow-up to the original 1987 Wall Street, director Oliver Stone could have made a far more interesting and timely film. A cast including Michael Sheen and Shia LaBeouf provide diminishing returns in a tale of greed that ultimately pulls its punches.
Fox
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Weekend at Bernie's 2 You may ask yourself how it’s possible to make a sequel to a film based on two friends pretending a corpse is still alive in order to party. The makers of Weekend at Bernie’s 2 were probably asking themselves the same thing in 1993. This tired comedy never crosses over from stupid into funny, despite many of the cast returning to try and recapture the dubious magic.
Entertainment Film Distributors
The 27 worst film sequels of all time S. Darko The sequel to Donnie Darko toys with the concept of time, by wasting yours. The dialogue is awful, the acting wooden, and you don’t even get to see an angsty black haired Jake Gyllenhaal in all his blue-eyed glory. Director of the original, Richard Kelly, was so offended by S. Darko he described the experience of watching it as “horribly violating”.
Fox
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Little Fockers Robert De Niro’s reputation continued to devalue with the third installment of the Meet The Parents series. The title indicates how much effort was put into this family comedy, which relies on under-the-belt hits to wring any laughs out of its audience.
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Now You See Me 2 This follow-up to the flashy 2013 film squanders the only reason it would have a sequel, and somehow is not named Now You See Me Now. The sleight-of-hand magic here is all style and no substance, and the endless overcomplicated reveals of characters tricking each other become very irritating.
Rex
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Mulan II Mulan is a gender-bending, brave heroine who refuses to conform to society's expectations of her. That is, until she reappears in the Disney sequel as a devoted wife who is more than willing to comply with her husbands demands. Now even her pet dragon Mushu doesn’t like her.
Sky
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Son of the Mask Jim Carrey is replaced by Alan Cumming in this low-budget comedy sequel, which manages to be both frantic and boring at once. Director Lawrence Guterman tries to make up for the lack of Carrey’s signature comedic vim by adding a baby and a dog, but their antics can’t distract from the ugly production design.
Sky
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Grease 2 Danny and Sandy flying off into the sunset should have been the end of Grease. But money-hungry film execs brought us back to Rydell High for sequel fans were hopelessly undevoted to. "I hated that film with a vengeance and could not believe how bad it was," said Sandy stand-in Michelle Pfieffer years later. "At the time I was young and didn't know any better."
Paramount
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Dumb and Dumber To Stupider even than its title, the Farrelly brothers’ sequel puts its stars (Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels) through an overlong retread of past material. The broad humour feels decades out of date, and the energy that propelled the original through its juvenile jokes is gone. It’s hard to imagine who was the target audience for these gross-out sight gags.
Hopper Stone, SMPSP
The 27 worst film sequels of all time The Birds II: Lands’ End Hitchcock’s 1963 film The Birds was a masterclass in suspense. The birds that menace Tippi Hedron and the other inhabitants of Bodega Bay become genuinely disturbing through a slow, atmospheric build of tension. This made-for-TV sequel has the same avian threat, and some of the same cast, but none of the classic thrills.
MCA Home Video
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Basic Instinct 2 Sharon Stone had bad instincts when she agreed to this film. Even a new take on her iconic leg-crossing interrogation scene couldn’t save this sequel from one of the worst rotten tomato ratings on record. It managed to make less than $6m Stateside on a $70m budget.
Rex Features
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Cruel Intentions 2 Amy Adams tries her best to tear into her role as a sadistic, sex-obsessed bully but the script for Cruel Intentions 2 – strictly speaking, a prequel, but sssh – is so bad that even she failed to save it. When her stepbrother Sebastian moves into her Mum’s Manhattan mansion, she barges into his shower and warns him, "no one is going to threaten my cushy life". What teenager would ever say "cushy life"?
Columbia
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Mean Girls 2 Did a Mean Girls sequel happen if Tina Fey wasn’t around to write it? No, no it did not. A Plastics vs nerds turf war in the pits of the high school jungle just doesn’t work without Fey’s tight one-liners. In Mean Girls 2 we hear none of the “on Wednesdays we wear pink” “that's why her hair is so big. It's full of secrets” “you can’t sit with us” zingers that made the original film so magical.
Paramount
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Blues Brothers 2000 Although the soundtrack had its fans, this film is essentially a remake of the 1980 original without one half of the titular Blues Brothers (John Belushi died in 1982). Bafflingly, he is replaced by a 10-year old child in sunglasses. It’s half as funny and nowhere near as infectiously fun, but if you only care about the music, that might not matter.
Sky
The 27 worst film sequels of all time The Godfather Part III Infamous for ruining what would have been, in many critics’ eyes, a perfect trio of movies, The Godfather Part III delivers a slow anti-climax. The film has its defenders, but given the calibre of the first two Godfathers, this last instalment is the black sheep of the family.
Paramount
The 27 worst film sequels of all time The Next Karate Kid A young Hilary Swank stars in the fourth Karate Kid film, a precursor to the modern trend of rebooting ailing franchises with a female lead. Pat Morita as Mr Miyagi is charming as always, but the script is mostly recycled. There are a couple of interesting differences: Swank has a pet hawk, Buddhist monks dance to the Cranberries, and there’s almost no fighting. But what’s a Karate Kid sequel without the Kid or the karate?
Columbia Pictures
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Staying Alive It might be called Staying Alive, but you won’t want to after watching this sequel. Six years after our hero Tony Manero made white polyester bell bottoms popular, we check back in on him as he auditions for a new Broadway musical called Satan’s Alley. There are far too many romantic subplots, oiled up chests and loincloths to make this film okay.
Paramount Pictures
The 27 worst film sequels of all time Speed 2 Keanu Reeves wisely didn’t pick up the phone for this Razzie-winning action thriller. The speeding bus rigged by a bomber in the 1994 film is bizarrely replaced by a cruise ship here, making the action a lot slower and more boring. Poor Sandra Bullock is given nothing interesting to do, and surely must have been tempted to look for a lifeboat.
Sky
Earlier this year, the world’s first glimpse at Reeve and Carrie-Ann Moss in character as Neo and Trinity since 2003’s The Matrix Revolutions surfaced on the internet, showing a completely different look for Reeves’ character.
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