Did you ever hear of an author named Sophia Stewart? If you hadn’t, frankly neither had I until this morning. She’s a New Yorker who, reportedly, has been living in Salt Lake City for about five years.
She wrote a book in the early 1980s called THE THIRD EYE. A court has ruled in this Black woman’s favor that her science-fiction manuscript did indeed inspire two blockbuster Hollywood movie franchises — THE TERMINATOR and THE MATRIX.
Stewart, according to Facebook, was heard on Chicago talk radio station WVON this morning and revealed that Janet Jackson and 50 Cent are both interested in appearing in and serving as executive producers of THE MATRIX: 4. That’s some juicy news for you sci-fi fans. To me, that whole legal story — and the amount of money that Sophia Stewart will receive — is one of the most under-reported entertainment news stories to come out of Hollywood this year. I had no idea that the true creator of The Terminator and The Matrix was a Black woman! How come no Black network news person like Deborah Roberts on ABC or her husband, Al Roker on NBC, has brought this to our attention? Did “Entertainment Tonight” cover this story? I could not find the book on the Barnes & Noble website. It is carried but currently out of stock on Amazon.
I read an item stating that Stewart will receive damages for the three MATRIX films plus THE TERMINATOR and its sequels. Apparently, she sent her manuscript to The Wachowski Brothers, who requested new sci-fi works, in the mid-80s. They are credited with writing 1999’s big hit, THE MATRIX, starring Keanu Reeves. There are articles online about her long court case. Go to Google and search this: Sophia Stewart wins lawsuit.
If this is all true, I would love to see a TV interview of Ms. Stewart. Wouldn’t you? Please leave comments if you know anything else about this Hollywood sci-fi secret. I sure hope WVON Radio puts up a podcast of that interview.