By Louis Chan, AsAmNews National Correspondent
In a rare Hollywood premiere in San Francisco, the stars turned out Saturday night for the world premiere of the Matrix Resurrection.
Keanu Reeves joined Carrie-Ann Moss, Priyanka Chopra, Jessica Henwick, Jada Pinkett Smith, Neil Patrick Harris, Daniel Bernardt, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II for a gala green carpet evening.
The invited gathering at the Castro Theater in San Francisco erupted into applause as each of the stars walked across the stage prior to the screening.
Warner Bros chose to hold the premiere in San Francisco rather than Los Angeles because it filmed the movie in the city by the Bay. Each of the attendees had to show proof of vaccination and a negative COVID test within 72 hours of the premiere.
“What an amazing experience we had, what an amazing film,” Reeves said to the crowd before handing the microphone to his co-star.
“I had no idea how much I needed to be Trinity again,” said Moss who has starred in each of the four Matrix movies with Reeves beginning in 1999. “It was such a beautiful experience to come together with (Executive Producer) Lana Wachowski and all these beautiful artists. So I hope you love it.”
Reeves went on to introduce Wachowski as “our leader, our beacon of light, our gravity-the amazing wonderful visionary.”
She recalled that this was the city where she fell in love with her wife Karen 20 years ago. She also recalled debuting a movie years ago also at the Castro Theater about a woman getting out of a closet.
“My whole life I didn’t always believe in this world. I didn’t believe I could be a Hollywood director. I didn’t believe I could be an out trans woman Hollywood director,” she said to cheers.
Priyanka Chopra looked stunning in a long glittering dress. She along with Jessica Henwick are among the new additions to the cast. Chopra plays the role of Sati and Henwick that of Bugs, a new character, but one that gets a lot of lines and is central to the plot.
An afterparty took place following the screening at two adjacent restaurants along the San Francisco Bay waterfront and San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge- Waterbar and Epic. Attendees had a choice to go to the red pill or blue pill side. They were also free to mingle back and forth.
A firework show also lit the night sky to the delight of the attendees.
The Matrix Resurrection debuts in theaters Wednesday, Dec 22, in time for its Christmas weekend release.
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All of you look amazing.Congragulations.I take the red,&blue pill.He is plugged in 24/7 8 days a week.Contact me if you are looking for A screen writer.xoxo,Deb Rojas