As trans onscreen representation takes a hit in Hollywood, Lilly Wachowski is attempting to make a film with an all-transgender cast… if only the industry will let her.
The Matrix co-auteur recently explained that despite some excitement over the script, financiers “really don’t want to make” her dystopian political thriller The Hunted, which is co-written with partner Mickey Ray Mahoney and budgeted at $10 million, due to the film’s “wall-to-wall trans cast.”
“People like it, but they really don’t want to make it because it’s wall-to-wall trans cast,” said Wachowski on KCRW’s The Business podcast. “I have to get creative and figure out different ways that I can get this in front of people.”
Currently in development with Wachowski’s Anarchists United and Natasha Lyonne’s Ariadne banner, the pair teamed up last weekend on a live read event for the film at Dynasty Typewriter.
Wachowski added, “This is a script that was extremely important for me to write. It was a response to what is happening in the world for trans people, and it gave me a hugely cathartic receptacle to dump all of my anger and rage and frustration into.
“I’m just going to go out and I’m going to grab that trans joy with all of my friends,” she said. “It’s not the thing that I had imagined it was going to be, but the end result is the same.”
Described as a biting political thriller in the tradition of Wild in the Streets and V for Vendetta, The Hunted is set in a dystopian America where trans people are brutalized and erased to the margins of society. When a heinous crime sets off a chain reaction of mutual care and resistance within a trans community, two trans women search for the perpetrator that leads to the highest reaches of government.
Wachowski’s latest project comes after GLAAD’s recent “Where We Are in Film” study found there were zero transgender characters in the 225 films from 10 major distributors released in 2025. The study also noted a 3% decrease in the amount of movies that featured LGBTQ characters, the third year representation has gone down since a record high of 28.5% in 2023.
