RIHANNA is getting ready to swallow the red pill as rumours abound she is set to star in a new movie sequel to The Matrix.

The chart topping 29-year-old won praise from critics last month when she played the iconic role of Marion Crane in horror series Bates Motel.

4 Rihanna is being courted to star in The Matrix Credit: Fame Flynet

The TV show is based on the Alfred Hitchcock classic Psycho with Rihanna taking on the role originally played by screen legend Janet Leigh.

After winning praise from TV viewers and critics alike, film producers are now said to be fighting to cast the Barbadian beauty in the new Sci Fi adventure.

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“Rihanna is a global star who’s sold millions around the world. Movie producers know she has a lot of untapped potential as far as films are concerned and are eager to have her on board,” a source told the Daily Star.

“Rihanna’s team are elated and are open to discussions as they see major potential in her being tied to a movie like the Matrix. It’d be a win-win for all,” the source added.

4 The Matrix was a smash in 1999 for Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss Credit: Kobal Collection

Of course it wouldn’t be the first feature film to star RiRi.

Back in 2012, she appeared in box office disaster movie (literally a disaster, as it was deemed a flop) Battleship.

And she has also played versions of herself in Bring It On: All or Nothing in 2006 and This Is the End in 2013.

This year she is due to appear in Sci Fi adventure Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets – and next year she will be in the all-female Ocean’s Eight.

4 Rihanna won praise for playing Marion Crane in Bates Motel Credit: A&E

4 She is due to appear in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets this year Credit: Ruckas

The Matrix was a box office smash in 1999 – starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss as humans fighting for survival against a nightmare robotic race.

The upcoming new film is said to be neither a prequel nor a sequel to the original film trilogy – but to be a companion story akin to animated series The Animatrix which told other stories of human resistance fighters in the wider Matrix universe.

The Matrix showed humanity enslaved by robots that needed our bodies as a power source in a horror dystopian future.

The Science Fiction film series has sparked debate on whether or not such a monstrous future could occur, billionaire inventor Elon Musk believes humanity “almost definitely” already lives in a Matrix style simulation.

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