Danny Boyle To Direct Dance Adaptation Of 'The Matrix' Called 'Free Your Mind' In New Manchester Art Venue

Fresh off of “Pistol,” his FX mini-series about The Sex Pistols, Danny Boyle has his next project lined up. And it’s the last thing anyone expects from the man behind “Trainspotting,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” and “Yesterday“…

READ MORE: ‘Pistol’ Review: The Sex Pistols Would Probably Hate Danny Boyle’s New FX Series

Variety reports that Boyle’s next project will be a stage dance adaptation of “The Matrix,” The Wachowski‘s 1999 sci-fi blockbuster. “Free Your Mind” will debut at Factory International, a new art venue in Manchester, United Kingdom, as a “large-scale immersive performance.” It will be the venue’s inaugural show.  

“Combining the hip-hop choreography of hundreds of dancers with the latest immersive design, “Free Your Mind” will take audiences on a thrilling journey through “The Matrix” and into a new realm of possibilities,” reads the project’s logline.“This eye-opening production will stretch across the building’s ultra-flexible spaces, responding to them and harnessing the collective energy of the moment.”

It’s hard to wrap one’s head around a project like this, much less Danny Boyle being at the helm of it. Still, Boyle has some background in choreography and dance numbers. For example, he directed the London 2012 Olympics Games opening ceremony involving large musical and dance numbers and corrals of 7,500 volunteers. But a dance performance of “The Matrix” is something else entirely. One wonders what Factory International allows as a venue for Boyle and “Free Your Mind” to make the production so cutting edge.

Longtime Boyle collaborator Tracey Seaward produces “Free Your Mind.”  Micahel “Mikey J” Asante composes the show’s music, while KenrickH20Sandy provides choreography. Poet/playwright Sabrina Mahfouz and artist Es Devlin are also on board to write and create large-scale sculptures.

“Free Your Mind” comes after last year’s “The Matrix Resurrections,” easily the most polarizing of “The Matrix” films. Directed solely by Lana Wachowski, the film was a box-office bomb, and the critical take was mixed. But “Free Your Mind” likely won’t touch upon any other movies in the series except the 1999 original, which remains a cult classic.