Transgender Writer and Director Lana Wachowski Makes History with The Matrix 4

Lana Wachowski has been announced as the writer and director of the fourth installment of The Matrix franchise, making her the first openly trans person to helm a major Hollywood blockbuster, according to PinkNews.

Wachowski and her sister co-wrote and directed the initial Matrix trilogy, however she had not come out as trans yet. Now, with the first three films garnering a combined $1.6 billion, The Matrix 4 has the potential to be the most lucrative transgender-directed film in history.

“Most of the ideas [my sister] and I explored 20 years ago about our reality are even more relevant now,” Wachowski told Variety. “I’m very happy to have these characters back in my life and grateful for another chance to work with my brilliant friends.”

Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are also returning to the franchise to reprise their respective roles of Neo and Trinity.

The Matrix has evaluated by some, including Dr. Elanor Amaranth Lockhart, as an allegory for the trans experience.

“One of the things that The Matrix portrays really realistically about the trans experience is the seeming comfort and safety of the establishment – and how quickly that turns to isolation and self-destruction,” Lockhart wrote on Medium. “The Matrix is one of the great transgender films of all time… because it depicts things typical of the trans experience that aren’t ‘sexy,’ that don’t make it into the Caitlyn Jenner magazine spreads.”

“We could not be more excited to be re-entering the Matrix with Lana,” Warner Bros. Picture Group Chairman Toby Emmerich said when the news announced on Tuesday. “Lana is a true visionary — a singular and original creative filmmaker — and we are thrilled that she is writing, directing and producing this new chapter in the Matrix universe.”