Yes to the Matrix being the heir to Star Wars. It came out the same year as TPM, and soon everyone was pretending to be Neo in their backyard, not baby Anakin.

I think that the Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings film series were all trying to be the same story in different costumes.

Nobody has mentioned John Carter yet. After listening to the director's commentary and hearing about how everything in it was designed to simply begin an epic series of movies, It's really sad that they won't be making any more.