Exclusive: ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ to hold U.S. premiere at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre
G. Allen Johnson December 3, 2021Updated: December 3, 2021, 3:47 pm
Keanu Reeves walks the streets of San Francisco in “The Matrix Resurrections,” which will make its world premiere at the Castro Theatre on Dec. 18. It will open in theaters and on HBO Max on Dec. 22.
Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures
The fourth installment of the “Matrix” film franchise, and the first in 18 years, is scheduled to make its U.S. premiere at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre on Dec. 18 — four days ahead of its Dec. 22 release in theaters and on HBO Max.
Director Lana Wachowski, who is said to be a fan of the venue, and stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jada Pinkett Smith and Neil Patrick Harris are among those expected to attend the event at the 1,400-seat movie palace that first opened in 1922.
Variety first reported that the premiere would be in San Francisco before a venue was chosen, but a person intimately involved in planning discussions among the Castro Theatre, the city of San Francisco and Warner Bros. confirmed the venue’s participation with The Chronicle on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak about the premiere.
Warner Bros. declined to comment on this story.
The Castro Theatre will be the site of the U.S. premiere of “The Matrix Resurrections.”
Photo: Stephen Lam / The Chronicle
Tickets for the premiere are not available to the general public, but there will be a “fan zone” near the red carpet where the public can see the film’s stars in person. There are also plans for a display that involves “outside image projection,” the source said. The Castro and Warner Bros. are in “many conversations” with the city about the logistics of the event, including security and street closures, which would include blocking off Castro Street.
Chronicle Quiz: Can you name these San Francisco spots from the ‘Matrix Resurrections’ trailer?
The idea for the original “Matrix” (1999), one of the most influential science fiction films of all time, was inspired by San Francisco, and “The Matrix Resurrections” was shot extensively in the city in the months before the pandemic began. Cameras were spotted in Chinatown and North Beach and at a downtown BART station, and some action sequences around Montgomery and Sansome streets involved Reeves and Moss.
The film makes extensive use of “White Rabbit,” a song released in 1967 on the Jefferson Airplane album “Surrealistic Pillow.” The band got its start in San Francisco in 1965 at a club on Fillmore Street called, yes, the Matrix.
G. Allen Johnson
G. Allen Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email:
ajohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BRfilmsAllen
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