A live adaptation of The Matrix, directed by Danny Boyle, will recreate the 1999 movie with “dance, music, and visual effects.”
Boyle is best known for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics, as well as for the movies Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting.
He didn’t direct the ground-breaking Keanu Reeves film, but he is now transforming the tale of virtual reality from The Matrix into a live “large-scale immersive show.”
It will be among the first performances in Manchester’s $186 million Factory arts complex.
The grandiose 7,000-seat stadium will host the Free Your Mind show in October and November 2023.
In a release, it was stated that “spectacular visual effects, a cast of professional dancers, and hundreds of participants from Manchester will recreate some of the film’s most memorable scenes, inspiring thoughts of an alternate future.”
Boyle, who hails from Radcliffe in Greater Manchester, praised the first Matrix film as “extraordinarily predictive” and “wonderfully fun,” noting that it foresaw the power and potential abuses of technology.
“I recall watching the first movie and, like many other people, not really comprehending what I was seeing, other than appreciating it viscerally and being confused and interested by it.
And it doesn’t happen frequently that a movie gradually unveils itself to you over the course of 10 to 15 years, but that is what has happened here.
The Factory International, formerly known as The Factory in honor of the city’s influential record label, made its opening lineup announcement on Thursday, with Free Your Mind serving as its centerpiece.
It was created in 2014 when George Osborne, the then-chancellor, promised to provide £78 million to culture to the Northern Powerhouse.
However, the building has been plagued by delays and growing prices, and it will need to demonstrate its value at a time when people and businesses are having a hard time keeping up with inflation.
Currently, it has a budget of £186 million, of which £99 million comes from the government, £51 million from Manchester City Council, £7 million from the National Lottery, and roughly $5 million from individual donations.
Through a five-year commercial fundraising approach that will involve selling naming rights, the remaining £24 million needs to be raised.
The location will serve as the permanent home for the Manchester International Festival, whose organizers claim it would draw 850,000 visitors to the city each year, create 1,500 jobs, and contribute £1.1 billion to the local economy over a ten-year period.
According to artistic director and CEO John McGrath, the structure represents “an investment in the future of Manchester.”
He said,
“Investing in this city, creating new employment for people, new experiences, and buildings like this will attract visitors from all over the world to come to Manchester and be a part of this magnificent city and its future.”
Boyle will collaborate with choreographer Kenrick “H2O” Sandy, composer Michael “Mikey J” Asante, designer Es Devlin, writer Sabrina Mahfouz, and composer Michael “Mikey J” Asante on Free Your Mind, which is billed as a “unique cross-art collaboration of world-leading artists.”
It will come after Factory International’s inaugural event next summer, which will feature the “largest-ever immersive environment” by Yayoi Kusama, a Japanese artist famous for her enormous, vibrant, splotchy sculptures.
Also Read: Tantoo Cardinal’s Wife, Kids, And Family
