Hugo Weaving not returning for fourth ‘Matrix’ movie

One of the biggest stars from the Matrix franchise has revealed he won’t be seen in the upcoming fourth film.

Tell me, Mr. Weaving: What good is a Google Calendar … if you’re unable to reprise your iconic role?

Hugo Weaving, the Matrix franchise’s sneering, implacable villain Agent Smith, has announced he won’t be returning for the film’s fourth iteration due to scheduling conflicts with an upcoming theatre role.

The 59-year-old actor is set to star in the National Theatre’s production of The Visit, while production for the Matrix reprisal is scheduled to begin early this year.

Hugo Weaving in The Matrix Revolutions.

“I had this offer (for The Visit), and then the offer came from The Matrix, so I knew it was happening, but I didn’t have dates,” Weaving told TimeOut London.

“I thought (I) could do both, and it took eight weeks to work out that the dates would work. I held off on accepting (a role in The Visit during that time),” Weaving says. “I was in touch with director) Lana Wachowski, but in the end, she decided that the dates weren’t going to work. So we’d sorted the dates and then she sort of changed her mind. They’re pushing on ahead without me.”

It’s a distressing turn for the as-yet-untitled fourth film in the franchise – the second and third were Reloaded and Revolutions, respectively. Maybe number four will be Restitutions? – which boasts the return of Keanu Reeves as Neo and Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity. Also, Neil Patrick Harris will be there.

Laurence Fishburne, Carrie Ann Moss, Hugo Weaving and Keanu Reeves on the set of Matrix in Sydney in 1998.

“Many of the ideas (my sister) Lilly (Wachowski) and I explored 20 years ago about our reality are even more relevant now,” writer and director 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.”

Co-creator/writer/director Lilly is also not involved with the fourth film, nor is Laurence Fishburne as Reeves’ dourly intoning mentor Morpheus. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, star of HBO’s Watchmen, has been confirmed for the project – possibly as a younger version of Fishburne’s character.

Laurence Fishburne in The Matrix Reloaded.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Hugo Weaving not returning for fourth ‘Matrix’ movie