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The series began with the feature film The Matrix(1999), and continued with two sequels,
 The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (both 2003), all written and directed by The Wachowskis and produced by Joel Silver. The franchise is owned by Warner Bros., which distributed the films along with Village Roadshow Pictures. The latter, along with Silver Pictures are the two production companies that worked on all three films.

The first film was an important critical and commercial success, winning four Academy Awards, introducing popular culture symbols such as the red pill and blue pill, and influencing action filmmaking. For those reasons it has been added to the National Film Registry for preservation.[1] Its first sequel was an even bigger commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing R-ratedfilm in history,[2][3] a title which it held for 13 years, until it was surpassed by the film Deadpool.[4]

The series features a cyberpunk story of the technological fall of man, in which a self-aware artificial intelligence has wiped most of humanity from the Earth except for those it enslaves in a virtual reality system as a farmed power source, and the relatively few remaining humans who are free of that system. The A.I. (Matrix) agenda is to destroy all humans who are free, considering them a threat/disease. The story incorporates references to numerous philosophical and religious ideas. Influences include the principles of mythology, anime, and Hong Kong action films(particularly "heroic bloodshed" and martial artsmovies). Consistent throughout are the concepts of inter-dependency and love.

The characters and settings of the films are further explored in other media set in the same fictional universe, including animation, comics, and video games. The comic "Bits and Pieces of Information" and The Animatrix short film "The Second Renaissance" act as prequels to the films, explaining how the franchise's setting came to be. The video game Enter the Matrix connects the story of the Animatrix short "Final Flight of the Osiris" with the events of Reloaded, while the video game The Matrix Online is a direct sequel to Revolutions.

As of February 2016, the franchise has generated $3 billion in revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.[5] In March 2017, it was reported that Warner Bros. was in early stages of developing a relaunch of the franchise with new films.