The Matrix Resurrections is the fourth installment in the Matrix franchise. It premiered in December 2021 in more theaters than any of its predecessors---and still grossed a mere fraction of them in the box office.

The fourth movie in the series was originally set to release in 2022, but was bumped up to the end of 2021, where it premiered in theaters and on HBO Max. Now, Warner Brothers is being taken to court by the company who co-produced the film, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, over the decision that allegedly affected the profits.

The suit states,

“WB’s sole purpose in moving the release date of ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ forward was to create a desperately needed wave of year-end HBO Max premium subscriptions from what it knew would be a blockbuster film, despite knowing full well that it would decimate the film’s box office revenue and deprive Village Roadshow of any economic upside that WB and its affiliates would enjoy."

A spokesperson for Warner Brothers responded,

“This is a frivolous attempt by Village Roadshow to avoid their contractual commitment to participate in the arbitration that we commenced against them last week. We have no doubt that this case will be resolved in our favor.”

Village Roadshow claims they are a victim of "rampant piracy" that was facilitated by the streaming service, and that Warner Brothers did not consider how releasing the film in both theaters and online the same day would affect them.

They also allege that Warner Brothers intends to cut them out of profits on other joint projects of theirs, including American Sniper and Joker, and that Village Roadshow's refusal to give up the rights to its intellectual properties has led to Warner Brothers slowly icing them out.

“In other words, if Village Roadshow won’t give up its rights, WB will make sure they are worth nothing.”

This suit is reminiscent of when Scarlett Johansson took Disney to court over Black Widow's release to Disney+, something the star cited as hurting sales, which her check depended on. Johansson and Disney settled for an undisclosed amount.