According to The Hollywood Reporter, the fourth movie in Warner Bros.’ iconic franchise is expected to be one of the few Hollywood films that received the green light for a theatrical release in China by the end of 2021.

The film has cleared local censorship but has yet to receive an exact release date. Its U.S. release will be on December 22 and will debut day-and-date on HBO Max.

The Matrix franchise has long been a fan favorite in China and the series came out long before the country emerged as a major market force. Most fans were introduced to the first two films in the franchise, The Matrix (1999) and The Matrix Reloaded (2003) via the DVD piracy that was common in China back then. The Matrix Revolutions was the first Hollywood film to open theatrically in China day-and-date with major Western markets in 2003 as well. It only screened in 12 cinemas in Beijing and relatively few elsewhere, reflecting the country’s limited exhibition infrastructure during that time.

China is the world’s largest theatrical market today, passing North America in total box office revenue in 2020. The number of U.S. studio releases has declined due to a rise in state-level tensions between Washington and Beijing and growing nationalism among the Chinese public. No major Hollywood movie has a confirmed release date in the country for the last two months of 2021, which was uncommon during the box-office boom years preceding the pandemic.

If Matrix 4 can get into the market before the end of the year, it should satisfy pent-up demand for Hollywood products and a recent local audience penchant for high-concept sci-f as well.

Resurrections follows the story of Neo/Thomas A. Anderson (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss) twenty years later. They remain trapped inside the simulated computer-generated world with no memory of their past or each other.

The film also stars returnee Jada Pinkett Smith along with newcomers Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Christina Ricci.