The Matrix Resurrections Secures China Release Date One Month Later

The Matrix Resurrections has secured an official China release date with the eagerly anticipated now set to open in the world’s largest theatrical market on January 14, 2022—nearly one month after its domestic opening on December 22nd. The China release date comes after the film received the go-ahead from local sensors in late November, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

However, while the film getting an official China release date is a big deal, there are some concerns that the date being so far out from its domestic release will come with piracy concerns. The Matrix Resurrections will also debut on HBO Max in the United States on December 22nd and one of the dangers of streaming has been that the high quality of streaming entertainment makes it relatively easy to pirate clean copies of movies or television. Even with that concern, The Matrix as a franchise has previously been very popular in China and The Matrix Resurrections is currently the only U.S. film scheduled for release in the China with the nation having dramatically pared back on the foreign content released in its theaters. In terms of the film’s domestic release, tickets for the film are now on sale and Warner Bros. also released a new trailer for the film on Monday.

Keanu Reeves returns to the Matrix franchise as its hero, Neo, reprising his role from the first three films. Carrie Anne Moss also returns for the fourth installment to reprise her role as Trinity. The all-star cast also includes Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Neil Patrick Harris, Jonathan Groff, Jessica Henwick, Christina Ricci, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Ellen Hollman, Lambert Wilson, and Jada Pinkett Smith. Lana Wachowski returns to direct Resurrections, from a script she co-wrote with David Mitchell and Aleksander Hemon.

While Resurrections certainly looks to be as action-packed as its predecessors, Reeves has hinted that the new film in the Matrix franchise is just as much a love story as it is anything else.

“We have a wonderful writer and director, Lana Wachowski, and she’s really written a beautiful, beautiful script that is a love story, it’s inspiring, it’s another version of a kind of call to wake up, and entertains, great action. And all will be revealed,” Reeves previously told BBC’s The One Show.

The Matrix Resurrections opens in theaters in the U.S. and debuts on HBO Max on December 22nd. The film will open in theaters in China on January 14, 2022.