This topic is realtive Matrix 2 & 3 making.Please look out "(*** Spoilers ***)" in the title.And all of news items are here.

"Ok a friend of mine had auditioned for a part around mid last year and he was going for the part of "the kid"... He said that his character was kicked out of military school for some reason and tries to join up with Neo n all...

Also he told me they are trying to protect the Matrix...This becomes more clear with the introduction of the virus guys (men in silver)..."

A Weird Twist on Agent Smith

February 27, 2002 - Warning: this article contains possible spoilers!

Hugo Weaving's sinister Agent Smith character was a big hit with fans of the cyberpunk Matrix film. As an incarnate manifestation of the machines that controlled the Matrix, Agent Smith was the greatest foe of Neo, Morpheus, and the other unplugged freedom fighters.

But if the gossip is true, the Wachowski Brothers are planning to completely rewrite the Agent Smith character and his place within the Matrix. Here's what Coming Attractions has to say on the subject: "I asked [an individual working on the Matrix sequels] if they had him sworn to secrecy or if he could talk about the movie. He said he couldn't tell me much, but what he did tell me was fascinating. Agent Smith is now a separate entity from the Matrix and has started to multiply. The Matrix has its own agents hunting Smith. I mention [sic] the silver virus guys, or the twins, as he called them, and he said they were cool to work with. He also said Smith realized that he and Neo were connected somehow. He was great to talk to and a nice guy."

For starters, the thing about Agent Smith "multiplying" (I keep imagining the cover of Multiplicity) agrees with an earlier report we had here at IGN FilmForce of the Matrix producers hiring about 150 Hugo Weaving body doubles for a few scenes. How exactly Agent Smith duplicates himself and for what purpose is unknown.

Odder, however, is the suggestion that Agent Smith becomes a renegade. What I'd like to know is how he can become a separate entity from the Matrix. He is the Matrix personified! He controls the Gestapo, he gets the Matrix reprogrammed, he directs the submarine seekers. He's a program designed for nothing other than tracking and eliminating "separatist" fugitives. Has the Matrix suddenly developed multiple personality syndrome? At any rate, the Wachowskis had better find a really good excuse for this strange development, if it's true. We'll keep an eye on things and let you know what happens. -- Paul Davidson

Intel Developer Forum Spring 2002 - Day 1

What do a 3GHz Pentium 4, a digital camera and the Matrix 2 have in common? The first demonstration was one to show off a couple of technologies including software by a company called Realviz. Realviz happens to be invested in by Intel and thus the presence of their technology at IDF requires no explanation. The technology that Realviz has developed allows for a form of image based content creation.

The train in this picture is a 3D model generated from a digital photo using a regular digital camera. Even more impressive is that the entire environment is an interactive 3D world also generated from regular 2D digital stills taken using a consumer level digital camera.

Using a digital still camera and the Realviz technology you are able to create a 3D world and 3D models from 2D digital still images. Imagine being able to take a bunch of pictures of an environment and stitch them together in a 3D world. This you'll know is already possible but the beauty of this demonstration was they actually created a 3D environment with actual 3D props also generated from 2D stills and made a movie out of them all. Using a few stills of Craig Barrett it was possible to create a fairly convincing 3D model of him on a snowboard tricking off of objects in a 3D world, all generated from digital stills. And of course all of this was done on an air-cooled 3GHz Pentium 4 processor.

This technology has apparently been licensed by Escape for use in some way with the upcoming sequel to the Matrix.

(*** Spoilers ***)

Date:22-Feb-2002
From:Coming Attractions
(The detail is here)

February 25, 2002... Today's Matrix scoop was related to us by a CA reader who happened to bump into an individual who worked on the sequels. In the interest of protecting the identities of both the scooper and the Matrix employee we're removing all information that might reveal who they are or what role they played in the production.

What the scooper had to say is being considered SPOILER MATERIAL, so read it at your own risk!

"I asked him if they had him sworn to secrecy or if he could talk about the movie. He said he couldn't tell me much but what he did tell me was fascinating. Agent Smith is now a separate entity from the Matrix and has started to multiply. The Matrix has its own agents hunting Smith. I mention the silver virus guys, or the twins, as he called them, and he said they were cool to work with. He also said Smith realized that he and Neo were connected somehow. He was great to talk to and a nice guy."

The summary of Explosion is here

Belluci Enters The Matrix

Italian actress Monica Bellucci (Brotherhood of the Wolf) told SCI FI Wire that she signed on for a role in the upcoming Matrix sequels because she was such a fan of the first film. "I wanted to be part of it, because I love the first one," Bellucci said in an interview. "It was a really good movie, and it's great to work with people like [writer/directors Andy and Larry] Wachowski. ... I loved [the brothers' previous film] Bound, and for me, I'm Italian, so it's great to have the possibility to work in Italy, France and America."

Belluci's role in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions has been kept under wraps, and she declined to discuss the part or her physical preparation for it. "I'm sorry, I can't say anything about Matrix," she said. "It's a very secretive project. It's going to come out in one year, so it's too soon to talk about."

'Chris' spotted a bit of quiet shooting the other night in the same location used for 'The Girl in the Red Dress' scene from the original: "Stumbled across some extras shooting near the fountain in Martin Place, Sydney last Saturday, 9th of February. A group of twenty or so milled around (sailors, business people, guy on a bicycle riding in circles take after take) as the (second unit director?) shot the crowd with a crane mounted camera which quickly panned up a building and into the sky".

MATRIX sequels release update

It seems part of the reason the first MATRIX sequel, THE MATRIX RELOADED, was pushed back to 2003 is because AOL/TimeWarner has too many successful film franchises for one year.

In a blurb in the latest PREMIERE, the magazine reveals the fact that HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS and New Line Cinema痴 (a subsidiary of AOL/TimeWarner) THE LORD OF THE RINGS: TWO TOWERS are coming out at the end of 2002 and have pushed THE MATRIX sequel from its latest premiere date of December 25. What痴 more, the film has been pushed back from spring 2003 (the season the original MATRIX was released) to early summer.

With filming not expected to finish until August, let痴 hope next summer is as far as it slips.

Laurence Fishburne reveals Matrix sequel details

Laurence Fishburne has revealed some of the plot of the first Matrix sequel.

The Matrix Reloaded takes place six months after the end of the first film.

Fishburne confirmed that the fabled city of Zion, often mentioned in the first film, will be seen in the sequels.

"We move from the Matrix and the reality that is the Matrix into the real world and the land of the human beings, this last bastion, the last human city which is called Zion," he told American TV show Entertainment Tonight.

"We get to see Zion, we get to meet more characters, people who are both born free with no plugs in their arms or heads, and people who are not home grown human that are harvested by machine."

The first of the two Matrix sequels will be released in 2003.

Story filed: 11:32 Thursday 7th February 2002

Keanu is back

REPORTER: Sonia Kruger
BROADCAST DATE: February 7, 2002

Reeves is back in Sydney to film sequels to The Matrix. Keanu Reeves is back in town and this time he is in Sydney to make not one, but two sequels to his blockbuster 1999 film The Matrix. According to Reeves, the sequels will be a continuation of the struggle between humans and machines.

Having already won an Oscar for special effects on the original Matrix, the producers have upped the ante and will stop at nothing to make sure the sequels are even more spectacular.

They have even built their own freeway.

"In Oakland they put together a mile-and-a-quarter of a replica of a freeway with three lanes, overpasses. When you flew into LA you could see it from the sky," Reeves said.

The original cast of the Matrix was so impressed with its success they jumped at the chance to reprise their old roles.

Lawrence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss have relocated from overseas to make these films, but life is a bit easier for our very own Hugo Weaving.

The Matrix Cast Reloads

The Matrix Reloaded is taking over the "land down under" and Access Hollywood visited the three stars on the Australian set where they revealed that making the film is painful business! They also discussed how the first film, released in 1999, has set the bar higher for the sequels they are shooting now.

Laurence Fishburne, reprising his role as Morpheus, says: "Actually I am quite confident in saying that the sequels to The Matrix will be better than the first one."

The precision-choreographed fights that won Oscars and set a new standard in filmmaking are back, but this time the goal for Reloaded is to make them even more elaborate than before.

Also returning is Carrie-Ann Moss as Trinity, who believes that "in every single department, we are all trying to do something better, more fantastic, and I think we are achieving that."

Keanu Reeves reclaims his role as Neo, the computer hacker hailed as 'The One' to lead humans to overthrow machines and reclaim the earth. On the greater sequel intricacies, Keanu says," I know for me, the action aspect of it is much more complex and a little trickier than last time. Before, if I threw one kick, now I'm throwing three kicks, or four, maybe seven. The wire work, the kung fu and the fight scenes are a little more sophisticated and ambitious."

To further expand their abilities, the actors are finding themselves devoting six hours a day, up to six days a week on fight training. Unfortunately, however, with more ambitious fight scenes come more on-the-set injuries. "I would have to say that about 50% of our time is training, 25% is about waiting and the other 25% is about acting," acknowledges Fishburne. "The last time there weren't quite as many injuries. This time, I think, all of me got hurt. I hyper-extended my wrist and just put a lot of strain on it."

The injuries Fishburne sustained were nothing compared to what happened to Carrie-Ann Moss: "I had never had any fear about the apparatus they put us on to do the flips and the running along side the walls, but about two weeks into training, I broke my leg on that wire -- I landed wrong. I had to heal my leg, which took eight weeks, and then I had to get back on the wire."

So far, so good for Reeves, though: "Knock on wood -- so far I haven't broken anything."

You can catch The Matrix Reloaded when it is released in May of next year. The third installment, called The Matrix Revolutions, is slated to debut in December 2003.

Read the rest of what didn't air on Access Hollywood from the Keanu Reeves interview

Access Hollywood: The Matrix received so much acclaim and success at the Academy Awardsｮ... Do you think the bar has been raised in regards to the sequels?

Keanu Reeves: I hope that people who are fans of the film will enjoy what's being created. The editing and sound and special effects have been great surprises. I'm just really happy for everyone involved. It's been just great.

Access: How has it been filming in Australia? Has it been more laid back?

Keanu: More laid back? Not really. Friday is different. In the States, on Fridays you just keep going. Here, it's very civilized. They go as much as they want earlier in the week, but on Fridays they slow down and get back to their other lives. It's great.

Access: How is it to be filming both sequels at once?

Keanu: I've never filmed two films at once. It feels like we're just doing one story. It really doesn't seem different than making one film -- it's just longer.

Access: Have you ever been in better shape than you are now? Is the training paying off?

Keanu: I don't usually train this much. We've been filming now for ten months. That's the challenge, to film and train at the same time. It means that you come in on the weekends and train at night. It's so・What's the expression in Australia?... 'Full on'. It's pretty full on, which is great.

Access: Carrie-Anne said that you are very dedicated and that you sometimes make her feel like a slacker.

Keanu: That girl is as dedicated as anyone. She's fantastic. As an actress and a person, um・I have more fights than she does, but not many. Trinity kicks some butt.

Access: Tell us about what you had to learn this time around from a martial arts perspective?

Keanu: I'm not really learning martial arts. I'm learning a kind of dance, really. It's movie kung fu・You still have to stretch and you have to kick, but it's not kung fu. It's more like jump, spin, hook, kick. It's dealing with kicking combinations. I also use some weapons in this film. I learn how to use four different weapons, which is great.

Access: So with all of that training, what does your stunt double have to do?

Keanu: My stunt double, Chad, has to do a whole bunch. He's really, in terms of the action, part of the role. He really studies the way I move. He helps train and we really work together. We try and make it consistent so it doesn't appear like there are two people doing it. He also does all of the crashing and bashing and going through walls and stuff.

"Matrix 2" Story Details Emerge

February 6, 2002 -- Last night's Entertainment Tonight broadcast an exclusive first look at the making of The Matrix Reloaded, the first of the two sequels to the 1999 box office smash The Matrix. Stars Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne were interviewed about the new film and E.T. cameras were allowed to film a fight scene between Neo and enemies in what appeared to be a mansion of some sort.

In a segment that is only available on the E.T. website, Fishburne revealed previously unknown story details about The Matrix Reloaded, including when it's set in the franchise's continuity. According to the actor, Reloaded begins about six months after the end of the original Matrix. Since Neo's defeat of Agent Smith, Morpheus and his team of freedom fighters have successfully freed a number of humans from their virtual reality prison. Fishburne also said the sequel will show us how humans outside of the Matrix live in the last city, Zion.

The Matrix Reloaded is scheduled to be released on Memorial Day, 2003.

February 6, 2002... At least two different websites have made available last night's Entertainment Tonight Matrix 2 footage:

Here's one site.Here's another.

As well, the ET website has now updated their Matrix article and included two new video clips with Keanu Reeves and Lawrence Fishburne. Reeves discusses his thoughts on the sequel's greater complexity of fight sequences while Fishburne talks about the movie's storyline and reveals a previously unknown plot point about Reloaded. We're classifying the spoiler material that Fishburne says with a minor grade (swipe to reveal:) by the time the second film opens, approximately six months have passed since the events at the end of the first Matrix film. Morpheus and his team of rebels have succeeded in freeing a number of former "plugged in" humans and removing them from the Matrix. [Originally appeared on the Entertainment Tonight website.] If that doesn't do it for you, we've also got this summary of the ET footage from a reader: "Well, I'm writing this as the show is just starting -- a lot of bullshit will air before the Matrix, but I might as well give you a blow by blow....

"There was a scene -- I didn't get what they were saying during the preview -- that was shown in a brief glimpse, which had neo fighting someone who resembled himself a bit, and the scene looked like this fight was going on in a mansion. There were people that looked like agents involved with this scene - including someone that resembled Hugo Weaving (which I could not confirm if it was him or a stunt man or an extra).

"Neo (Keanu Reeves) did an awesome wire assisted back flip while he was battling bad guys (I'm assuming Smith). I couldn't get a good good look from this first take, but I know someone was firing a machine gun and I am also fully aware that Neo was dressed in a black jacket that resembled Morpheus' closed leather jacket from the first film (but the fabric was like that of his plain black duster from the first film).

"The scenes that were shown also involved swordfights that Neo was involved in. I didn't see much or anything involving other cast members. I do remember the closing quote however, from Keanu -- 'After 72 takes of Kung Fun, ice is good.'

"Relatively interesting teaser footage -- wets my appetite. I want some more... Joel Silver and Warner Brothers are the dealers and I am hoping they can give me a fix soon." ['Artful Dodger' needs it.]

Ah, the mansion set. Some of us have heard about that segment of the sequel's storyline, haven't we?

Finally, this news item was sent to us from the land of the Swiss: "Just a tiny bit of information about Monica Bellucci's role in The Matrix Reloaded. The beautiful actress was recently in Geneva, Switzerland, to promote the new French comedy Asterix and Obelix - Mission Cleopatra. A local newspaper, the Tribune de Geneve, published an interview of her. Here is what she had to say about her work in the Matrix sequel: 'In my case, I got to act on a real set with real actors, not in front of a blue screen.' Looks like she's not going to be part of any scene including special FX..." [Our thanks to '?!?'.]

Keanu on the set!

Date:05-Feb-2002
From:Entertainment Tonight
(The detail is here.This link will be expired soon.)

Keanu Reeves on the Set!

February 05, 2002
'The Matrix' sequels are underway, and tonight ET has your first sneak peek into the world of 'The Matrix 2,' otherwise known as 'The Matrix Reloaded'!

After boning up on their martial arts and high-wire training, KEANU REEVES, LAURENCE FISHBURNE, CARRIE-ANNE MOSS and bad guy HUGO WEAVING are back and hard at work in Sydney, Australia filming back-to-back sequels to the box office smash.

"Last time all the fights for [my character] Neo were one-on-one. Now it's one-on-five," a cryptic Keanu reveals.

Apparently, training for the new movies was so rigorous that Keanu injured himself while working out. "I got a trauma on my ankle that put me in a cast for four days," he reports.

Although co-directors ANDY and LARRY WACHOWSKI are keeping all of 'Reloaded''s storyline tightly under wraps, we can tell you that 'Malena' star, MONICA BELLUCCI, and WILL SMITH's significant other, JADA PINKETT-SMITH, have trained hard and joined the athletic cast for the next adventure. Monica's character remains a mystery for the moment, but Jada will play Niobe, the love interest of Morpheus, Laurence Fishburne's character in the movie.

"These sequels are going to blast the original off the screen, and that's exactly what the fans want," says Jada.

After shooting some preliminary scenes in San Francisco and some test footage stateside, the Aussie portion of Warner Bros.' 'Reloaded' started filming last year on September 24 at 20th Century Fox's Sydney studios.

Filming of the two sequels is expected to wrap in Sydney this August, and 'The Matrix Reloaded' is due for release summer 2003. 'The Matrix 3,' tentatively titled 'The Matrix Revolutions,' is due November 2003. The original 'The Matrix' and a special behind-the-scenes documentary, 'The Matrix Revisited,' are both currently available on VHS and DVD.

Watch ET tonight for the latest behind-the-scenes news on this too-cool sequel!

Cameraman's now at home in Tinseltown

IT'S a long way from Balga to Los Angeles – ask Andrew Rowlands.

The former Balga High School student now calls LA home, having made a name for himself as a cameraman in the world's movie capital. Mr Rowlands, 41, who once earned less than the dole as a camera assistant in Perth, is working in Sydney on the sequel to the hi-tech futuristic blockbuster The Matrix starring Keanu Reeves.

"From Balga to here – I have to constantly pinch myself on the cheek," Mr Rowlands said from the The Matrix set.

"People used to say I'd never make it, but I kept forging ahead.

"I knew I wanted to be in this business since I was 15."

Don't expect Mr Rowlands, who operates a steadicam – a camera fastened to the user by a harness – to be overwhelmed by The Matrix's star power.

In his last job he worked with legendary director Martin Scorsese on the upcoming period drama Gangs of New York, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz.

"When Gangs of New York comes out it will be my jewel," Mr Rowlands enthused.

"It was a fantastic experience to work with Scorsese – he's a genius."

After Gangs of New York, Mr Rowlands worked on the Johnny Depp drug saga Blow, whose director, Ted Demme, died suddenly last month.

The cameraman and director were meant to team up again on Nautica, starring another Perth boy, Heath Ledger, but that movie has been put on hold.

Plying his trade on big-budget flicks is a dream come true for Mr Rowlands, who has lived in LA with his wife, Julie, since 1994.

He is now eyeing a career as a cinematographer.

Mr Rowlands' big break came when he attended a week-long steadicam course in Philadelphia in 1990.

While on the course he met and became instant friends with George Paddock, a former navy Seal who went on to revolutionise steadicams.

The new buddies travelled to LA and met Ted Churchill, one of the world's premier steadicam operators.

"We were the new kids on the block," Mr Rowlands said.

"Luckily, we met Ted and he took us under his wing and I will always be grateful for that."

Mr Rowlands took his new-found knowledge back to Perth, but work was tough to find.

A move to Singapore in 1992 proved more fruitful.

Hollywood, however, was beckoning and in 1994 the Rowlands once again packed their bags for LA.

George Paddock had started his own steadicam company (almost all the top steadicam operators in the world use his design) and sponsored Mr Rowlands' stay.

The Rowlands then entered the Green Card lottery to live permanently in the US and won their cards against staggering odds.

Mr Rowlands, Aussie accent as strong as ever, worked in television (Boston Public) and on music videos (Snoop Dogg, Baby Face) for five years.

He got his feature-film break a couple of years ago on The Legend of Bagger Vance, directed by Robert Redford and starring Matt Damon and Will Smith.

Mr Rowlands' pay cheque has ballooned since his camera assistant days in Perth in the late 1970s.

His daughters Taylor, 6, Emma, 3, Lauren, 1, were born in Beverly Hills.

"We call them the Beverly Hills babies," joked Mr Rowlands, who lived under the "H" in the Hollywood sign when he first moved to LA.

As for The Matrix, he said working on the special effects-laden movie was invaluable experience.

"The Wachowski brothers (the film's directors) have come up with very challenging camera moves," he said.

You get the feeling this Balga boy can handle it.

Keanu puts us in the picture

THERE is a scene in The Matrix in which Laurence Fishburne presents Keanu Reeves with two pills. "One pill," he says "will put you to sleep and none of this ever happened. The other . . . well, who knows where it might lead," and his hand sweeps away to a vista that looks suspiciously like the World Square building site on George St by night. At which point my friend Claire leans over and announces loudly in the middle of the cinema: "What? The bloody Pitt Street Mall?" I couldn't take the movie seriously after that. "Oh, look, it's Martin Place/the MLC Building/the one with the big silver bits!"

Yet, suddenly, I realised that it made me feel deeply uncomfortable to see the familiar landmarks of my home turned into the stuff of movie fiction; and I don't think it was because it ruined the illusion that Keanu wasn't really in some sort of post-modern model of the urban landscape as pseudo-philosophical metaphor for the emptiness of modern life. It was because I'm not use to seeing urban Australia used as the backdrop for story-telling.

Americans are not perturbed by this state of affairs. When I went to LA, it amazed me that the entire place was literally a set – "Oh, look, it's the real Melrose Place!" – and that the locals didn't find it unnerving to see their lives mythologised on the screen. This is because Americans are so used to seeing their stories transformed into myth that they see no disparity between the fiction and the reality. And what is true of film is also true of music.

What great Australian bands have successfully managed to mythologise a specifically Australian experience? I mean, it's OK for Springsteen to immortalise the battlers of New Jersey, for Lou Reed to name actual streets in New York, but if I wrote a song about the Queen Victoria Building I'm not sure anyone would be able to keep a straight face.

The Brits do it in their own way, too. Yet rather than idealise their sense of place they have a tendency to openly celebrate the sheer crappiness of their existence. English songs might be all about sniffing glue on a council estate, but it's a real council estate. Yet if I were to replace "Panic on the streets of London" with "Panic on the streets of Wollongong", you might be forgiven for emitting a polite snigger.

There have been attempts. Cold Chisel made the best shot at a Springsteen-goes-to-Dubbo aesthetic of working-class Australia, and Tim Rogers managed to sing about the Glebe Point Bridge without sounding corny, yet for the most part Australian bands shy away from specific Australian references in favour of a more abstract evocation of place. For example, The Triffids.

The one exception might perhaps be Melbourne; a city which has spawned a countless number of parochial "singer-songwriters" who, as one famous parody of the awful Things Of Stone And Wood once went, have been known to "run out of Melbourne cliches".

Australian rock has mostly ignored the possibility of elevating the plight of urban Australia to the status of legend. Why is it? Because we don't take ourselves seriously? The cultural cringe? Is it simply because most Australian cities are actually pretty boring?

I'm not quite sure I know the answer, but I'm not expecting too many songs about Wollongong to flood the market any time soon.

shanhanb@sundaytelegraph.com.au

Honolulu studio shutdown hits 125 employees

Date:30-Jan-2002
From:Variety
(The detail is here.This link will be expired soon.)

Wednesday January 30 11:56 PM ET

Honolulu studio shutdown hits 125 employees

HONOLULU (Variety) - Producer Square USA's 5-year-old Honolulu studio, which developed the $145 million computer-animated film ``Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within,'' is shutting down March 31, putting out of work 125 employees from Japan, Hawaii and the North American continent.

Jun Aida, ``Final Fantasy'' executive producer and the Hawaii studio's president, told employees of the shutdown on Monday. The company was spending about $18 million annually to operate the studio, which cost $46 million to create. About 30% of the workers are from Japan, 12% are Hawaii residents and the rest from North America.

``Final Fantasy'' has generated only $32 million in ticket sales domestically and $72 million worldwide.

Since September, Square sought a major U.S. studio to manage the film production side of its Honolulu operation, but ran out of time, Aida said. Delays caused by the Sept. 11 attacks and the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays made the situation terminal, he said.

``This was the toughest period to be negotiating a major transaction,'' Aida said. ``We had some serious interest . .. but our (deadline) worked against us. The state of the economy caused a lot of people to take a wait-and-see attitude.''

Ultimately, parent Tokyo-based Square Co. wanted an agreement reached ``sooner than later,'' Aida said.

``If I had had another 18 months, maybe the situation would be different,'' Aida added.

An early indication of the studio's problems occurred this month when Square renegotiated its contract with the state of Hawaii for a portion of the Hawaii Film Studio to be leased on a month-by-month basis. The ``Man of War'' production starring Bruce Willis wants to begin using the Hawaii Film Studio in mid-March.

Since last fall, the Honolulu studio has been working on the Warner Bros. $150 million ``Matrix'' sequel, producing 10 minutes of computer animation for a promotional trailer, Aida said.

High-Tech Studio Plans to Close

HONOLULU (AP) - The stars of the digitally animated movie ``Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within'' are being laid to rest.

The Honolulu-based studio that created the groundbreaking - but critically panned - movie announced Wednesday that it planned to close up shop, largely because the film failed to cover its $145 million cost.

Aki Ross, the movie's heroine, had begun to be accepted as a real star. Last year, she posed in a bikini alongside real models in the men's magazine Maxim.

Square USA, a subsidiary of Japan's Square Co., said it will shut down its powerful computers - along with Ross and other actors they generated - on March 31. But the company is still seeking an investor to keep the studio open.

Efforts to form a partnership with a major U.S. studio have failed, studio president Jun Aida said in an interview Wednesday. Aida lamented the operation's likely demise.

``We could have used the same characters in different roles,'' he said.

Gov. Ben Cayetano had lauded the operation, which he hoped would form the heart of a new high-tech industry base for the islands.

``I'm sorry to see Square USA leaving Hawaii,'' Cayetano said, ``but the 'Final Fantasy,' the movie that they made, was a financial disaster for them and they expressed to me that they have to consolidate and so Hawaii was one of the casualties,'' Cayetano said.

Although panned for a weak story line, ``Final Fantasy'' is widely regarded as the most realistic animated film ever made. In the movie, actress Ming-Na provides the voice for Aki Ross, a beautiful scientist who is gradually succumbing to a phantom that has infected her body.

The movie was the fourth-highest-earning film when it was released in theaters, but it slid after that, taking in $32 million in the United States and $72 million abroad.

A DVD of the movie, in which sequences can be viewed from several angles and some scenes can be rearranged by the viewer, was released in October and was the top-selling DVD in the nation for a time.

Aida said sales remain strong, but not enough to save the studio.

Before closing, he said, his studio will complete a 10-minute feature tied into the sequel to the highly popular film ``The Matrix.'' Also, ``Final Fantasy'' may be in competition for the first-ever Academy Award for a feature-length animated film, to be presented in March. Nominees are to be announced Feb. 12.

Square USA built the high-tech studio five years ago, choosing Hawaii because of its proximity to both Hollywood and Japan, Aida said. The studio, whose parent company produces the popular ``Final Fantasy'' computer games, has employed up to 220 people in Honolulu during peak production.

Aida said it is unlikely that many employees of the operation will be able to stay in the same business in Hawaii.

``Obviously, I'm very disappointed,'' Aida said. ``But as far as what we were able to achieve in the last five years, I'm very proud that we met the challenge and were able to finish what people in the industry consider a very groundbreaking project.''

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Square USA