Danny Boyle said he dismissed the “rabbit holes” conspiracy theorists like Andrew Tate have fallen down when adapting the 1999 film The Matrix for the stage.
The 67-year-old director said his latest project, titled Free Your Mind, focused on the “adventurous” issues the film raised – including climate change and artificial intelligence.
“It was as courageous as a mainstream Hollywood film could ever be on many different points – the gender issue, the digital issues, the AI issue – and that word really didn’t have the currency it has now,” he said.
Image: Joe Pantoliano, Laurence Fishburne, Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss in 1999 film The Matrix
“It had a multicultural cast, which was almost unheard of in mainstream Hollywood films, and [the film addressed] climate change.
“All these issues are in this film with a huge and sometimes baffling philosophical network behind it that you’re challenged to find out [about].”
“It’s that that inspired us to see how we could reflect on that, given how everything has moved on since then. And we remain in its searchlight,” he added.
“We concentrated on that rather than actually some of the distortions that [the film] has been used for, some of those rabbit holes that people have gone down.”
More on Danny Boyle
Related Topics:
The film’s terminology has been adopted by controversial figures such as Elon Musk and Tate with the term “the matrix” often used to describe a malicious layer of society including media, politicians and corporations who allegedly want to silence people.
But choreographer Kenrick Sandy said these types of influencers can engage in “misinformation”.
Advertisement
Image: The show’s creative team (left to right) Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy, Es Devlin, Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante and Danny Boyle inside Aviva Studios
“In coming into the show, it was more about the light and the awareness as opposed to the conspiracy because sometimes you go down that hole, you’re not coming back,” Sandy said.
“For me, it wasn’t that. It was not about the conspiracy, it’s about an awareness, it’s about enlightenment. We don’t want to feel like we are trying to [say], ‘you must think like this’ – that’s not the way, especially in the world today.
Image: A scene from the show. Pic: Tristram Kenton/Factory International
“There’s too many people trying to say ‘this is the way it is’. Sometimes it’s misinformation, it’s an opinion, it’s not a fact.”
Boyle created the live dance adaption with Sandy, composer Michael Asante, set designer Es Devlin and writer Sabrina Mahfouz. It opened in Manchester‘s Aviva Studios last week – marking the official launch of the £240m project.
Image: An artist’s impression of Aviva Studios, the new cultural venue which opened this month
The director was born and raised in nearby Radcliffe, around seven miles north of Manchester, and said he hopes the new venue will “nurture younger, challenging artists who will come forth and use the profile of the building to present their ideas”.
Choreographer Sandy first worked with Boyle in the 2012 Olympics, when Boyle directed the opening ceremony.
But this is the first project both have worked on from the beginning, with Boyle saying that working within the art form of dance was “extraordinary”.
“You don’t expect this late in life to get a complete education in language values – dance obviously brings a completely different perspective to something.
“There’s so much about The Matrix, not just the manifestations of it in film, there’s The Animatrix and the conspiracy theories and all that kind of stuff, so to bring the language of dance to it feels like a wonderfully refreshing way of renewing our interest in some of its brilliant, dazzling ideas,” Boyle said.
The film, directed by the Wachowski sisters, sees hacker Thomas Anderson, played by Keanu Reeves, being told that AI has conquered humanity and our lives are part of a computer simulation.
He switches identities to become hero Neo – something co-director Lilly Wachowski said was a metaphor for the experience of the transgender community.
Boyle is best known for directing films including Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire and 28 Days Later.
Sabrina Carpenter has hit out at an “evil and disgusting” White House video of migrants being detained that uses one of her songs.
“Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” the pop star posted on X.
The White House used part of Carpenter‘s upbeat song Juno over pictures of immigration agents handcuffing, chasing and detaining people.
X
This content is provided by X, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable X cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to X cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow X cookies for this session only.
It was posted on social media on Monday and has been viewed 1.2 million times so far.
President Trump‘s policy of sending officers into communities to forcibly round up illegal immigrants has proved controversial, with protests and legal challenges ongoing.
Mr Trump promised the biggest deportation in US history, but some of those detained have been living and working in the US for decades and have no criminal record.
Carpenter is not the only star to express disgust over the administration’s use of their music.
More on Sabrina Carpenter
Related Topics:
Olivia Rodrigo last month warned the White House not to “ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda” after All-American Bitch was used in a video urging undocumented migrants to leave voluntarily.
In July, English singer Jess Glynne also said she felt “sick” when her song from the viral Jet2 advert was used over footage of people in handcuffs being loaded on a plane.
Other artists have also previously hit out at Trump officials for using their music at political campaign events, including Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, Celine Dion, Ozzy Osbourne and The Rolling Stones.
Matthew Perry’s parents have criticised the “jackals” involved in dealing drugs to the star – and accused a doctor of being “among the most culpable of all” ahead of his sentencing today.
Emotional victim impact statements by Perry‘s mother Suzanne and stepfather Keith Morrison, and father John and stepmother Debbie, have been submitted to the US district court for Central California ahead of Salvador Plasencia’s hearing.
They say “no one alive and in touch with the world” could have been unaware of the Friends star’s struggles with addiction, and that the doctor broke his vows “repeatedly” to “feed on the vulnerability of our son”.
Plasencia, 44, is the first of five people to be sentenced in connection with the 54-year-old’s death, and has pleaded guilty to illegally selling him large amounts of ketamine. He is not accused of selling the dose that killed the actor, but had been supplying the drug to him in the weeks beforehand.
Image: Salvador Plasencia appeared in court to change his plea to guilty earlier this year. Pic: Reuters/Mike Blake
Perry was found in his hot tub by his assistant in October 2023. A medical examiner later ruled that ketamine and other factors had caused him to lose consciousness and drown.
In their letter filed to the court, Suzanne and Keith Morrison share their grief, saying they feel a “confusion of emotions”.
Anger “seethes away down deep, whether you want it to or not”, they say, detailing how they play out “unalterable events, over and over and over” in their minds, “as if it could make any difference now”.
They also write about the impact Perry’s death has had on others, saying they often find Friends mementos, as well as flowers and notes and other tributes, left at his grave.
The star’s story “moved so many people”, they add. “And he wanted, needed, deserved a third act. It was in the planning. And then, those jackals.”
Image: Perry was best known for playing Chandler Bing in Friends. Pic: Everett/ Shutterstock
‘This doctor conspired to break his most important vows’
Saying they find Plasencia’s actions “truly hard to understand”, they tell the judge: “I believe the man you are going to sentence today is among the most culpable of all…
“Why become a doctor? To cure the sick of course. To heal people. To save lives.”
Crimes can be easier to understand in some circumstances, they say. “Maybe in the heat of passion, or because that person makes one very bad decision… Or some drug dealer, bad to the bone, who takes the calculated risk of getting caught and spending many years in prison.
“But… a doctor? Who trades on respect, and trust? And not just one bad decision. No one alive and in touch with the world at all could have been unaware of Matthew’s struggles.
“But this doctor conspired to break his most important vows, repeatedly, sneaked through the night to meet his victim in secret. For what, a few thousand dollars? So he could feed on the vulnerability of our son.”
Addressing Plasencia directly in their statement, John and Debbie Perry say: “You don’t deserve to hear our feelings. How you devastated our family contributing to the loss of Matthew, our only son.”
They describe Perry as a “warm, loving man” and say his recovery counted on Plasencia “saying NO”.
Their letter continues: “Your motives? I can’t imagine. A doctor whose life is devoted to helping people?
“How long did you possibly see supplying Matthew countless doses without his death to eventually follow? Did you care? Did you think?”
Prosecutors are asking Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett to sentence Plasencia to three years in prison.
John and Debbie Perry have asked the court to extend the sentence beyond the mandatory period.
Ahead of sentencing, Plasencia’s lawyers have described him as a man who rose out of poverty to become a doctor beloved by his patients, and say his selling to Perry was “reckless” and “the biggest mistake of his life”.
In their sentencing memo, they say “remorse cannot begin to capture the pain, regret and shame that Mr Plasencia feels for the tragedy that unfolded and that he failed to prevent”.
However, they say Plasencia has already lost his medical licence and career, and a prison sentence is “neither necessary nor warranted”.
The other four people charged in connection with Perry’s death have also accepted plea deals and are due to be sentenced over the next few months.
They are: dealer Jasveen Sangha, also known as “the Ketamine Queen”, Perry’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, another doctor, Mark Chavez, and Erik Fleming, an associate of the actor.
Sabrina Carpenter has hit out at an “evil and disgusting” White House video of migrants being detained that uses one of her songs.
“Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” the pop star posted on X.
The White House used part of Carpenter‘s upbeat song Juno over pictures of immigration agents handcuffing, chasing and detaining people.
X
This content is provided by X, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable X cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to X cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow X cookies for this session only.
It was posted on social media on Monday and has been viewed 1.2 million times so far.
President Trump‘s policy of sending officers into communities to forcibly round up illegal immigrants has proved controversial, with protests and legal challenges ongoing.
Mr Trump promised the biggest deportation in US history, but some of those detained have been living and working in the US for decades and have no criminal record.
Carpenter is not the only star to express disgust over the administration’s use of their music.
More on Sabrina Carpenter
Related Topics:
Olivia Rodrigo last month warned the White House not to “ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda” after All-American Bitch was used in a video urging undocumented migrants to leave voluntarily.
In July, English singer Jess Glynne also said she felt “sick” when her song from the viral Jet2 advert was used over footage of people in handcuffs being loaded on a plane.
Other artists have also previously hit out at Trump officials for using their music at political campaign events, including Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, Celine Dion, Ozzy Osbourne and The Rolling Stones.