'The Matrix' director Lilly Wachowski has revealed the movie was a "last-ditch, Hail Mary part of the deal" with Warner Bros.

The 57-year-old filmmaker - who helmed the iconic 1999 action movie and its two sequels 'The Matrix Reloaded' and 'The Matrix Revolutions' with her sister Lana Wachowski, 59 - explained the film was greenlit after a Warner Bros. executive begged the directing pair to make it in an effort to save their job.

Speaking with Collider, Lilly said: "'The Matrix' was a last-ditch, Hail Mary part of the deal.

"It was part of a three-picture deal. We were just going to write and direct 'Bound', and write two other scripts.

"After 'Bound', the head of production at the time called us into his office and said, 'You have to save my job. We need this.'"

Even after the Wachoskis handed in the script, the pair weren't sure how the studio would react to 'The Matrix'.

Lilly said: "It was very different from anything else at the time. We just wrote the movie we wanted to see."

When it hit theatres in 1999, 'The Matrix' proved to be a major hit - pulling in over $460 million worldwide on a production budget of $63 million.

The film's success spawned two direct follow-up blockbusters in 2003, the animated show 'The Animatrix' and several video games and comic books.

Reflecting on the movie, Lilly admitted she and Lana weren't prepared for 'The Matrix' to become the hugely popular franchise it is today.

She said: "We had no idea what it would become. But we knew it was the kind of story we had to tell."

'The Matrix' - which stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving - tells the story of computer hacker Thomas Anderson/Neo, who discovers reality is a simulated illusion controlled by machines and he is humanity's only hope of breaking free.

After the franchise was rested for nearly two decades, 'The Matrix' returned in 2021 with 'The Matrix Resurrections', which saw Reeves' Neo and Moss' Trinity reunite in order to free humanity from a new version of the simulated reality controlled by the Analyst (Neil Patrick Harris).

A fifth 'Matrix' movie is currently in the works at Warner Bros., though neither Wachowski sister will be directing.

Instead, 'The Martian' helmer Drew Goddard will be behind the camera on the movie, though Lana will serve as executive producer.

Plot details are being kept under wraps, but Warner Bros. Motion Pictures boss Jesse Ehrman has teased that the story will progress the fantasy world without straying from the franchise's unique identity.

In a statement, the studio executive said: "Drew came to Warner Bros. with a new idea that we all believe would be an incredible way to continue the 'Matrix' world, by both honouring what Lana and Lilly began over 25 years ago and offering a unique perspective based on his own love of the series and characters.

"The entire team at Warner Bros. Discovery is thrilled for Drew to be making this new 'Matrix' film, adding his vision to the cinematic canon the Wachowskis spent a quarter of a century building here at the studio."