Genre:
Science Fiction/Action/Sequel.
Studio:
Warner Bros.
Production Company:
Village Roadshow.
Project Phase:
Post-production.
Who's In It:
Keanu Reeves (Neo); Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus); Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity);
Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith); Jada Pinkett-Smith (Niobi); Harold Perrineau, Jr.;
Nona Gaye (Zee); Daniel Bernhardt (Agent Johnston); Harry Lennix (Lock); Steve Bastoni;
Monica Bellucci (Persephone); Matt McColm; Roy Jones, Jr. (Captain Ballard); Gloria Foster (The Oracle);
Clayton Watson ("The Kid"); Collin Chou; Gina Torres (Cass); Cornel West (Counselor West);
Adrian Rayment (Twin One); Neil Rayment (Twin Two).
Who's Making It:
Larry and Andy Wachowski (Directors, Screenwriters); Joel Silver (Producer).
Premise:
Neo, Trinity and Morpheus continue to battle a war against the A.I.s and free more minds from the Matrix. As they are joined by new comrades, there are those who cast doubt that Neo could truly be The One to destroy the machines and free the human race. Meanwhile, a familiar enemy from their past resurfaces as a far more powerful threat, and a new mission looms large for the heroes.
Release Date:
May 15, 2003.
Comments:
Where to begin? If the Wachowskis can pull it off -- and there's every indication that they will do so in spades -- the two Matrix sequels of 2003 will make mega box office and cement the brothers techno-action franchise as the logical heir of Star Wars for the 21st century. They made bullet-time what it is today, turned Keanu Reeves into a superhero, brought Hugo Weaving to a mainstream audience and proved that a philosophical cyberpunk noir film can actually be done. Whether you're a fan of the film or one of its detractors, there's no escape that THE MATRIX has left a permanent mark upon genre cinema for decades to come.
Scoop Feedback:
October 18, 2002... Early this morning
Ain't It Cool News was sent six images that look like, for all intents and purposes, legitimate teaser poster designs for The Matrix Reloaded. We haven't seen any photos showing the Reloaded characters in these particular shots, suggesting these are indeed the real deal.
[Sent in by 'Serial'; originally appeared on Ain't It Cool News.]
October 29, 2002... We're a little late reporting on this but heck, we're completists: the official Matrix movie website had posted the final designs for all six character teaser posters (including both cropped and uncropped versions) -- but had being the key word. The posters have now been removed and replaced with a notice to visitors instructing them that all six designs will be seen throughout the week on Entertainment Tonight.
If you call yourself a Matrix fan and haven't been reading all of the crew interviews now appearing on the official website...well, you should. You never know what kind of little hints and clues you might find in these exclusive talks with the designers of the new Matrix films...like, for instance, this interview with the sequel's composer, Don Davis, which revealed this exchange:
DON: Yes, I did. I was exhausted when I finished reading both scripts, because that's probably the most ambitious filmmaking I've ever experienced, in terms of script writing. They're in a class of their own; they don't have any peers when it comes to this kind of thing. I'm really looking forward to what they do after THE MATRIX films, because I'm pretty well convinced that after THE MATRIX 3 they're not going to continue with THE MATRIX, at least in the movies. They might continue the anime series, or something like that.
November 1, 2002... The official Matrix website has released a seventh poster in the new teaser poster line-up for Monica Bellucci's character, a femme fatale that wears a hip-hugging silver evening dress. Her name is Persephone. [Scooped by 'filmWhiz'.]
December 6, 2002... Yesterday MTV's Movie House
featured a exclusive preview of The Matrix Reloaded and we finally got confirmation of that much-rumored fight scene between Neo and multiple versions of Agent Smith:
"It takes place in the second film, Reloaded, and it's basically Neo multi-fighting a bunch of different Smiths," Keanu Reeves told Movie House. "It took about 27 shooting days for a camera, first unit and there was a bunch of other days we call motion capture, which will be integrated with some of the virtual camera stuff that they are doing. When you're watching it, you're seeing people on wires, you're seeing some of the choreography, and folks just trying to put a good fight together, a good fun fight."
Reeves also discussed an intricate dance sequence that will also appear in Reloaded and how he feels about his time spent working on the back-to-back sequels. "I'm going to look back on the experience of making these films as some of my greatest days, I'm sure."
The Movie House featured an article also features five behind-the-scenes photos of the Neo/Smiths brawl plus another 14 stills from the first sequel, including snaps of the highway chase between Morpheus/Trinity and the Twins and a smoochy-smoochy photo of Neo and Trinity. [First appeared online at MTV Movie House.]
December 19, 2002... Seven news stills from The Matrix Reloaded have now gone up at the official site. Sneak a peek at Trinity kicking, Neo fighting, Morpheus sword-wielding, Niobe standing and Persephone leading. Is that a Sentinel smacked against the wall behind Niobe? [First appeared at the official website.]
December 24, 2002... The current issue of Newsweek has an in-depth report about next year's two sequels to The Matrix. The article does contain spoiler information that's been generally unavailable to the public (unless you've been reading the Coming Attractions message forum for The Matrix, in which case this stuff will be old news.) But now that a mainstream outlet like Newsweek has put it in print, some of those tantalizing rumors that we first heard about more than a year ago are now known as hard, cold facts:
[First appeared in Newsweek.]
January 7, 2003... The team at
The Matrix Online have posted 56 screen grabs from the recent AMC Access set report from the Reloaded freeway chase scene. Now you can take all the time you want to stare at the motorcycles, the vehicles and Trinity in black vinyl. We're in heaven. [Reported by Jon Cline.]
January 14, 2003... It's deja vu all over again. The
FilmJerk website has confirmed a commercial for The Matrix Reloaded will debut during Superbowl XXXVII, costing Warner Bros. a cool $2.1 million for 30 seconds of airtime. Fans may recall that the original film also debuted a commercial during the 1999 Superbowl. [First appeared on FilmJerk.]
January 19, 2003... A 30-second Japanese TV commercial for The Matrix Reloaded has now been digitized for Web viewing. The trailer shows previously unseen moments and characters from the upcoming sequel, so you may have to decide if you want to live with spoilers or not. The Japanese commerical may serve North American audiences as a preview of what next week's Superbowl commercial might look like.
Matrix Fans has posted 16 screengrabs from the commercial. As well, mirror sites have been going up where you can download the commercial, such as this one, this one,
this one,
or this one here.
January 20, 2003... An extensive article about the upcoming Matrix sequels that appeared in yesterday's
Los Angeles Times newspaper confirms that the final Animatrix short film, "The Final Flight of the Osiris", will be attached to all prints of Warner Bros. Dreamcatcher movie. Dreamcatcher is scheduled to open in North America on March 21.
The article also features new quotes from producer Joel Silver and visual effects supervisor John Gaeta. Minor story spoilers are contained in the article but its primary focus is on the complexity of the sequels and the upcoming spinoff material. [First appeared in the Los Angeles Times.]
January 23, 2003... Speaking with Sci-Fi Wire, Matrix co-star Joe Pantoliano confirmed that the Wachowski brothers had originally wanted the character of Cypher to make a cameo in Reloaded and Revolutions -- even though Pantoliano's character died in the first Matrix film. The actor doesn't explain how the brothers would have made it work, but the man they call Joey Pants does express his enthusiasm for the upcoming sequels. "I'm still so excited to see Reloaded and Revolutions," he told the site. "I think that group is so bright that everything you see after that is an imitation of what they invented. And I know the Wachowskis well enough to know they're probably going to invent themselves again [with the Matrix sequels]." [First appeared at Sci-Fi Wire.]
January 27, 2003... The Superbowl trailer for the upcoming Matrix sequels turned out to be a different beast from the Japanese one. A slew of new images were included in the Superbowl spot including shots of Neo flying through a city, an army of Sentinels rushing towards the camera and a good look at the fistfight between Neo and 100 versions of Agent Smith. And if you missed the spot, where can you see the trailer now?
Right here on the official Matrix
website.
February 4, 2003... Slated to debut today on the film's official website is the first of the Animatrix short films, The Second Resistance, Part One. Directed by Mahiro Maeda (Blue Submarine), this nine minute short finally lifts the mystery surrounding how the intelligent machines first revolted and started their war against humanity. A preview of The Second Resistance will also air on tonight's edition of Entertainment Tonight. [Taken from the press release.]
February 19, 2003... Almost as quickly as we received the email from a member of P.O.D.'s "street team" that the rock band would be contributing the lead single and video for The Matrix Reloaded, reports started coming in that the group's guitarist had left the band. In a statement delivered to Undercover, a music website, P.O.D. lead singer Sonny states that a replacement has been found and that they are still writing the Reloaded song. [First scooped by 'Big E'.]
April 3, 2003... The Matrix Reloaded will now premiere at the world famous Cannes Film Festival this year.
Reloaded will be shown on May 15, the festival's second day, and the picture will not be competing with other films. The first of two sequels to The Matrix, May 15 is also the date of the picture's North American release.
It is not known which of the film's stars will attend the Cannes screening of if the directors, the reclusive Wachowski brothers, will be there.
April 7, 2003... The Dark Horizons website has two new posters for The Matrix Reloaded to share with you today. The posters are close-up shots of Neo and Trinity set against a white backdrop, and if you look at the reflections in their sunglasses you'll see what's happening
to them.
DH reports that the posters will be spotted in theater lobbies shortly. [It came from Dark Horizons.]
Official Web Site: www.whatisthematrix.com
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