Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
Key Takeaways
- Wachowskis’ Struggles: After the success of the Matrix trilogy, the Wachowskis faced difficulties replicating that success with later projects.
- Box Office Performance: Their film Jupiter Ascending had a significant budget but underperformed at the box office.
- Streaming Success: Despite its box office failure, Jupiter Ascending gained popularity on HBO Max recently.
- Future Projects: The Wachowskis have transitioned to other projects, including the Netflix series <em>Sense8</em>.
Few filmmakers have had luck as rotten as the Wachowskis. After breaking out with the culture-defining Matrix trilogy, the directors have struggled not only to match that level of critical acclaim but also to meet the significant commercial benchmarks they’d set. The Matrix trilogy grossed a combined total of around $1.5 billion worldwide and revitalized the sci-fi genre. However, the Wachowskis’ subsequent projects have all emerged as box-office underperformers. While Speed Racer has developed something of a cult following in the 18 years since its release, the same cannot be said about the Wachowskis’ mega-budget 2015 sci-fi fantasy, which recently saw a viewership spike on streaming.
The movie was headlined by Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum, with Eddie Redmayne delivering a villainous performance for the ages. The movie borrowed elements from fairy tales and shares several similarities with the recently released Steven Spielberg sci-fi thriller Disclosure Day. Although Spielberg’s movie also relies heavily on animals, the Wachowskis’ epic curiously revolved around bees. Some would say that it was the insects’ finest hour in a big-budget Hollywood film, along with Nicolas Cage’s The Wicker Man and Dwayne Johnson’s Journey 2 the Mysterious Island.
The Matrix Franchise Is Being Rebooted by Drew Goddard
We’re talking, of course, about Jupiter Ascending. The epic space opera was produced on a reported budget of $210 million, but it grossed only around $185 million worldwide. It now holds a 27% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “Pleasing to the eye but narratively befuddled, Jupiter Ascending delivers another visually thrilling misfire from the Wachowskis.” According to FlixPatrol, Jupiter Ascending was among the most-watched movies on the global HBO Max chart this week when the leaderboard was topped by the recently released horror title Over My Dead Body. The Wachowskis only made one more feature film together —Cloud Atlas — before splitting up creatively. They also co-created the Netflix seriesSense8 with J. Michael Straczynski. A fourth Matrix movie, titledThe Matrix Resurrections, was directed solely byLana Wachowski and released to divisive reviews and disappointing box-office results in 2021. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
