The Matrix director Lilly Wachowski says Hollywood won’t finance her film over its trans cast
“People like it, but they really don’t want to make it because it’s [got a] wall-to-wall trans cast,” she said
By Callum Wells
Lilly Wachowski says she is struggling to secure Hollywood financing for The Hunted, a dystopian political thriller with an all-trans cast.
The filmmaker discussed the project on KCRW’s The Business, explaining that potential backers have responded positively to the screenplay but remain unwilling to fund its production, which has a budget of around $10 million (£7.4m).
“People like it, but they really don’t want to make it because it’s [got a] wall-to-wall trans cast,” she said.
Why is Lilly Wachowski struggling to finance The Hunted?
Wachowski added: “I have to get creative and figure out different ways that I can get this in front of people.”
The film is being developed through Wachowski’s Anarchists United and Natasha Lyonne’s Ariadne banner/collective. Wachowski wrote the screenplay with her partner, Mickey Ray Mahoney.
The Hunted is set in a dystopian version of America in which trans people are subjected to violence and forced to the margins of society. Its central story follows two trans women investigating a perpetrator whose trail eventually reaches the highest levels of government.
Wachowski previously described the screenplay, which was first reported in 2024, as a response to the anti-trans political climate.
“I’m just going to go out and I’m going to grab that trans joy with all of my friends” – Wachowski on her decision to stage the script
“It gave me a hugely cathartic receptacle to dump all of my anger and rage and frustration into,” she said.
With conventional financing proving difficult to secure, Wachowski recently took the project to Los Angeles for a live reading. The Hunted was performed at Dynasty Typewriter on 7 and 8 August, with the event produced through Anarchists United.
Speaking about the decision to stage the script rather than wait for the film to move forward, Wachowski said: “I’m just going to go out and I’m going to grab that trans joy with all of my friends.”
She added: “It’s not the thing that I had imagined it was going to be, but the end result is the same.”
When did Lilly come out publicly as transgender?
The project is part of a wider focus on trans filmmaking for Wachowski. In 2025, she joined Geena Rocero’s 18-minute sci-fi thriller Dolls as executive producer. The film features an all-trans cast and follows a transgender woman who becomes involved with a mysterious doll-worshipping group.
Wachowski and her sister Lana became known internationally through The Matrix, beginning with the 1999 film before directing its sequels. Lilly came out publicly as transgender in 2016, following Lana’s public transition earlier in the decade.