The Matrix gets the Danny Boyle treatment in a peculiar way
Manchester, UK - The 1999 sci-fi film The Matrix is getting remixed into an odd immersive dance experience directed by Danny Boyle.
Though we can't think of a single person who has thought to themselves, "I really wish The Matrix was given the hip hop treatment," that's exactly what's happening.
On Thursday, Factory International announced that Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle is cooking up a dance adaptation of the 1999 film that has been described as a "large-scale immersive performance."
The show, titled Free Your Mind, is set to debut at the new arts venue in Manchester, UK in October 2023, and will combine "the hip-hop choreography of hundreds of dancers with the latest immersive design, 'Free Your Mind’ will take audiences on a thrilling journey through The Matrix and into a new realm of possibilities," according to the venue's website.
While not much else is currently known about The Matrix's rather random dance adaptation at the creative direction of Boyle, that doesn't mean people don't have opinions about the unnerving announcement. After all, The Matrix doesn't necessarily feel like a film that directly translates into a dance production.
Shockingly, the discourse on Twitter surrounding the film's choreographed stage adaptation was filled with intrigue rather than utter disappointment.
This probably has to do with the fact that Boyle is directing the adaptation itself. Given his exemplary work on Slumdog Millionaire and even directing the iconic and grandiose opening ceremony at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the English director has proven he knows how to pull off a large-scale production in a captivating and seamless way.
Free Your Mind will serve as Factory International's inaugural show when it opens in October 2023.
Cover photo: Collage: Ilya S. Savenok / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP / David Odisho / AFP