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

Movie News

MATRIX RELOADED release date changes

Warner Bros. has announced a shift in the release date of THE MATRIX RELOADED, and for once it痴 not a big, anticipated movie being pushed back because of production problems.

Instead of the previously announced May 23, 2003 release, the flick has been bumped up to May 15, 2003. No firm release date for the third flick, THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS has yet been set.

Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at feedback@cinescape.com.

Day 212 on 'Matrix' Movies Set: 'This Will End the Way Movies Have Been Made'

SYDNEY, Australia (Zap2it.com) - On Day 212 of the almost year-long combined shoot of "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions" (with a reported 72 days to go), the company of the simultaneously-shooting "Matrix"sequels are holding a press conference about the highly-anticipated upcoming sci-fi franchise entries slated for release in May and November of 2003.

Though the Wachowski brothers, the visionary writer-directors behind "The Matrix" and its two sequels, are busy setting up the day's filming, present at the press conference are "Matrix" trilogy producer Joel Silver, as well as cast members Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving, Harold Perrineau, Nona Gaye and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Silver, whose name is synonymous with big action features, describes the second and third films of the trilogy as "not two movies ・it's just one enormous movie that's being cut in half and shown in two halves."

On these two halves, however, principal photography is only half the battle as months' worth of visual effects work remain to be overlaid on both movies -- and a lot has changed since even the 1999 blockbuster.

"The computer is allowing us to do things that we never dreamed we could do before," Silver explains. "The bullet-time sequences (in 'The Matrix') were in the embryonic stage of what the computer can do. Now it's at such a level that (the Wachowskis) can do anything they want."

About the notoriously secretive Wachowskis, brothers Larry and Andy, Fishburne, who once again takes on the role of rebel leader Morpheus, jokes, "Little is known about the Wachowski brothers. They have a secret code that exists between the two of them. They're not very verbal, but they are incredibly trusting of who we are and what we bring. Their visual style makes it very interesting to be on set and to be with them when they're composing or creating these wonderful shots."

Returning from the original film are Keanu Reeves as Neo, Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, Fishburne, and Hugo Weaving as the villainous Agent Smith. They are joined by singer/model Nona Gaye (daughter of Marvin Gaye) playing a resident of the "real world" of Zion named Zee, Harold Perrineau as her husband, Link, and Jada Pinkett Smith as the mysterious Niobe, a woman of Zion who doesn't believe Neo could be "the chosen one" at the beginning of the new movies.

Pinkett Smith, along with the rest of the key cast, participated in months of rigorous training to prepare for the substantial physicality required for their roles.

"I've never had such intense training in my life and I have to say that I'm in the best condition that I've ever been in at 31," Pinkett Smith admits. "I had no idea that I can do half the stuff I can do!"

"A lot of people, I don't think, understand just how incredibly taxing all this work is physically," Fishburne adds. "If you look at 'Revisited,' there's a small clip of Keanu at rest off somewhere and there's steam rising up off his head. The amount of time and the hours that we are required to train are the kind of hours that professional athletes deal with."

As for how Reeves keeps up with all this, the characteristically tight-lighted actor reveals, "It's been a very strict diet and very vigorous, rigorous training."

To stay true to the ideal to create a "new experience" for the audience, the cast and producer demur when it comes to questions about the plot, the characters and almost any other level of detail in regards to the two movies.

Silver laid it out in broad strokes, however.

"It's about all of us, about our role in our lives and what our lives are about," the producer explains. "The boys are geniuses because they've come up with a concept of a system, which is everywhere we're going and where we have to stop. It's a treatise on our times and where we're going and how do we not go there."

If that's too vague, Reeves reveals that despite the new powers the audience saw him with at the end of the first "Matrix," "The brothers have put up some great obstacles to test those powers. The story goes outside of the Matrix and starts to concern itself with the machines and Zion. So, it's almost what he can do in the Matrix is not enough. He's still on the path of discovery and choice."

But then the cast returns to their more reined-in approach to question-answering as Fishburne replies to a question about the significance of the franchise in cinematic history.

"We all are aware of the fact that we are involved in something that is absolutely history-making in terms of cinema in the world, so it's a great, great honor," the man playing Morpheus says.

However, Joel Silver proves more than confident about the potential success of the two films.

"This will end the way movies have been made up to now," he boasts.

And lest you think that the producer has any qualms about audiences relating to the increasingly complex franchise as the trilogy continues, Silver adds, "I think that people were able to understand (the first film) and go with it, and I believe they're really anxious to see where it's going to go."

Animatrix To Hit Web

Date:30-May-2002
From:Sci Wire
(The detail is here)
Animatrix To Hit Web
May 28, 2002 Posted: 10:44 AM EDT (1444 GMT)

Updated 12:53pm ET on 3-June-2002

9:00am ET, 30-May-02

Animatrix To Hit Web

Ten anime films set in the universe of The Matrix will debut on the official Web site in the fall, Warner Brothers announced. The anime films—including four written by Matrix directors Larry and Andy Wachowski—may also make it onto DVD, with the last released theatrically, producer Joel Silver told SCI FI Wire.

The Animatrix shorts will be directed by Japanese and other animators, Silver said. The 10th installment will act as a prelude to the upcoming Matrix Reloaded sequel film, which is now in production in Australia and is slated for a May 2003 release. The 10-minute anime feature will be released by Square, the video game publisher that also produced 2001's computer-animated movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Silver said.

The Matrix 'goes online'

Date:28-May-2002
From:BBC News
(The detail is here)
Low Graphics Tuesday, 28 May, 2002, 12:40 GMT 13:40 UK
The Matrix 'goes online'

The Matrix itself described a virtual world

Warner Bros are creating an online game for many players at once based on special effects-laden sci-fi thriller The Matrix, according to reports. The online gaming market has been boosted by Microsoft's $1bn foray with the Xbox, and Sony's plans for an add-on to the PlayStation 2.

The pay-to-play version of The Matrix could make its debut as early as the end of this year, Yahoo and Variety reported.

Warner Bros wants a repeat of the success Sony has with EverQuest, an adventure game featuring a virtual kingdom.

Sony's EverQuest has been a big success

The Matrix game will allow tens of thousands of people to play at the same time in a 3D world full of the futuristic locations found in the Keanu Reeves movie.

The movie itself portrayed a world which was in fact a computer-generated virtual reality used to control the minds of humans.

Its special effects were hailed as groundbreaking and were accompanied by kung fu battles created using elaborately choreographed wire work.

Monolith Productions and EON Entertainment, Matrix directors Larry and Andy Wachowski's production company, are said to be currently working on the game for Warner Bros.

Sequel hopes

The Matrix took more than $475m at the box office after its 1999 release.

The next two instalments, The Matrix: Reloaded and The Matrix: Revolutions, will be released next year.

Also featuring Keanu Reeves, Reloaded is expected to be a big box office hit.

More than 70 subscription-based multiplayer games are being prepared for launch on the internet, including Sony's Men in Black II: Crossfire and LucasArts' Star Wars: Galaxies.

Ellis Talks Matrix Chase

David Ellis--the second-unit director who supervised some action scenes in the upcoming two Matrix sequels--told SCI FI Wire that a freeway chase sequence will surpass anything in movies so far. Ellis directed the multicar sequence last year in Alameda in Northern California before the sequels moved to their current production location in Sydney.

Sydney the 'Matrix city'
From Sydney Confidential
28may02

MAKE no bones about it -- there is no better place to be filming The Matrix sequels than Sydney.

Laurence "don't call me Larry" Fishburne, who stars alongside Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, said the Harbour City was the perfect location for such a seminal, futuristic film trilogy. "When we were doing the first movie, Keanu said something about Sydney ... the thing that made it so perfect for the movie is that it's a future city, a city of the future," he said.

"And this movie, as [producer] Joel [Silver] said, is the first movie of the new century, the future. And I think that's what Sydney's brought to the movie and vice versa."

Joel Silver echoed those sentiments in his role as official spokesperson. The writers and directors, Larry and Andy Wachowski, seem to have adopted a J.D. Salinger-like reclusiveness, refusing all requests for interviews.

"They don't want to be with us because they don't want to talk about their baby," he said. "They don't want to have to explain it, they think the movie explains it."

Silver explained that too much of the brothers' original 1999 film had been ripped off in other films.

"For a while, it was flattering and nice, but after a while they kind of got angry about it [and] decided that in these two movies they would create visual effects that could never be copied," he said.

For that reason alone the sequels are highly anticipated due to The Matrix's revolutionary take on science fiction, action and special effects.

Another reason to get excited is the number of Australians appearing in the films.

Hugo Weaving, who plays the immortal Agent Smith, also announced a number of Australian actors who will join him in the film, including Sydney Theatre Company artistic director Robyn Nevin.

Others include Steve Bastoni, currently starring in the musical Oliver!, Clayton Watson, Lachy Hulme, Anthony Wong, David Roberts, Ian Bliss, Helmut Bakaitis and Nathaniel Lee.

The Matrix Reloaded will be released on May 23, 2003.

Emerald City a gem for filming: Fishburne

MAKE no bones about it – there is no better place to be filming The Matrix sequels than Sydney.

Laurence "don't call me Larry" Fishburne, who stars alongside Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, said the Harbour City was the perfect location for such a seminal, futuristic film trilogy. "When we were doing the first movie, Keanu said something about Sydney . . . the thing that made it so perfect for the movie is that it's a future city, a city of the future," he said.

"And this movie, as [producer] Joel [Silver] said, is the first movie of the new century, the future. And I think that's what Sydney's brought to the movie and vice versa."

Joel Silver echoed those sentiments in his role as official spokesperson. The writers and directors, Larry and Andy Wachowski, seem to have adopted a J.D. Salinger-like reclusiveness, refusing all requests for interviews.

"They don't want to be with us because they don't want to talk about their baby," he said.

"They don't want to have to explain it, they think the movie explains it."

Silver explained that too much of the brothers' original 1999 film had been ripped off in other films.

"For a while, it was flattering and nice, but after a while they kind of got angry about it [and] decided that in these two movies they would create visual effects that could never be copied," he said.

For that reason alone the sequels are highly anticipated due to The Matrix's revolutionary take on science fiction, action and special effects.

Another reason to get excited is the number of Australians appearing in the films.

Hugo Weaving, who plays the immortal Agent Smith, also announced a number of Australian actors who will join him in the film, including Sydney Theatre Company artistic director Robyn Nevin.

Others include Steve Bastoni, currently starring in the musical Oliver!, Clayton Watson, Lachy Hulme, Anthony Wong, David Roberts, Ian Bliss, Helmut Bakaitis and Nathaniel Lee.

The Matrix Reloaded will be released on May 23, 2003.

Clayton Watson talks to TV Week today about his role as 'The Kid' in "The Matrix Reloaded", and Moviehole's transcribed it. "It's a great part", Clayton enthuses." He's 16 years old and eager to be part of everything. I can't say much more than that". Watson admits it's hard juggling his day-job (TV's Always Greener) with the Matrix gig. "It's difficult. But it's just a matter of doing one thing at a time. Because I landed The Matrix sequels before Always Greener, they've written me out of about 6 episodes of Always Greener", he explains. "They've been great". Watson admits The Matrix is big, but not new territory. "Film is different because you have a lot more time to think about the scene and your motives", he says "and the scale is a lot larger, of course. But as far as the cast and crew are concerned, everyone's a professional whether they're working on film or TV". "The enormity of it (The Matrix Reloaded) is amazing. Every time you walk into one of the studios you marvel at the size and lifelike look of the sets" "I started filming in San Francisco last June, so it's a long gig!", he adds. "My Matrix character wears such distinct make-up and costume that it helps take you into the scenes. As soon as you walk onto the set you know exactly where you are. I saw (the first Matrix) twice at the cinema. I fell in love with the film - I even bought it on DVD". But how did he get the gig? "I remember my agent called and told me there was a role available in the film. I said 'Right...I have to have this role!' "The cast is amazing", raves Clayton. "We've got some good additions like Jada Pinkett Smith and Harold Perrineau Jr, and some great Australian actors like Steve Bastoni and Lachy Hulme". Watson also has a good word to say about the local crew. "It's a great opportunity for those involved. Apart from the money it brings into the local industry, Australian crews are getting a reputation for being professional and being able to handle large-scale productions".

Matrix sequels `meaningful'

Date:27-May-2002
From:Sydeny Morning Herald
(The detail is here)

Matrix sequels `meaningful'

It is deep into the shoot for the two sequels to The Matrix in Sydney, but producer Joel Silver says the toughest leg is still to come. "The most complicated sequence of the entire movie will not start shooting for two or three weeks," he says. "That is a 14-minute sequence that is the most complicated sequence ever put on film."

Given the secrecy surrounding the sequels since directors Larry and Andy Wachowski started filming late last year, it was not surprising that Silver was keeping quiet about the details of this ambitious sequence.

But he did suggest The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, due for release in May and then December next year, aimed to be about something meaningful rather than just escapist action.

"It's so weird to say this but it's a treatise on our times and where we're going and how to not go there," he said in response to a question about how the terrorist attacks on September 11 affected film-making. "It's about global warming and the Catholic church. It's about all that stuff that's going on in our lives that we can't really grab onto."

A press conference also featuring Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving and other key actors was a rare glimpse into a production that has monopolised Fox Studios this year.

Such is the international interest in the sequels that a teaser trailer released on the Internet earlier this month was downloaded more than two million times within 72 hours.

Silver continued the hype by saying that some of the visual effects were so expensive and time-consuming they will never be repeated for a film. One visual effect for a single shot took two-and-a-half years to create.

"I really think that the bar has been raised so high that there is no more bar."

The Wachowski brothers offered Bat-franchise!

Saturday, May 25, 2002:

But they turned it down. This in overnight from a regular insider who is always on the money. I just can't say who he is, as some of you would know him. Anyway, here is what he had to say:

"[Let me] CONFIRM A LONG-SPOKEN RUMOUR THAT BAT-FANS HAVE ALWAYS ASKED ABOUT: YES! THE WACHOWSKI BROTHERS -- ANDY AND LARRY OF 'MATRIX' FAME -- WERE INDEED OFFERED FULL CONTROL OVER THE 'BATMAN' FRANCHISE (AND WHEN I SAY 'FULL CONTROL', BELIEVE ME, I MEAN IT!) AFTER THE SUCCESS OF THE FIRST 'MATRIX' FILM. THE REASON THEY REFUSED WARNER BROS. OFFER IS THAT THEY FIGURED THAT THEIR OWN 'COMIC BOOK FRANCHISE' -- i.e. 'THE MATRIX' TRILOGY -- WAS 'BETTER AND MORE ORIGINAL' THAN THE DEAL WARNERS WERE OFFERING, SO THEY POLITELY DECLINED. IN RESPONSE, WARNER BROS. CALMLY OFFERED THE WACHOWSKI BROTHERS (AND PRODUCER JOEL SILVER) A STAGGERING $600 MILLION DOLLARS TO COMPLETE 'THE MATRIX' SEQUELS, AND THE VIDEOGAME (RUMOURED TO BE COSTING THEM SOME $45 MILLION TO PRODUCE) CALLED 'ENTER THE MATRIX', WHICH IS CURRENTLY BEING FILMED IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA. WORD IS THAT THE WACHOWSKI'S TRULY LOVE THE 'BATMAN' CONCEPT (THEY'RE BOTH WELL KNOWN COMIC BOOK FANS), BUT WERE SO APPALLED BY JOEL SCHUMACHER'S EFFORTS ON 'BATMAN & ROBIN' THAT THEY WERE AFRAID OF FOLLOWING UP SUCH A DISMAL EFFORT. THEIR IDEAS FOR THE 'BATMAN' FRANCHISE WERE SIMPLE AND REVOLUTIONARY AT THE SAME TIME ('REVOLUTIONARY' FROM A WARNER BROS. POINT OF VIEW, THAT IS). THEY SIMPLY WANTED TO DO A 'LIVE-ACTION' VERSION OF THE COMIC BOOK, AND WERE GREATLY INFLUENCED BY THE NEAL ADAMS ERA OF 'BATMAN' COMICS. i.e. TOUGH, DIABOLICAL VILLIANS (THE WACHOWSKI'S ARE REPORTEDLY 'IN LOVE' WITH THE 1970 COMIC 'THE JOKER'S FIVE-WAY REVENGE'); AN ISOLATED, MANIACAL BRUCE WAYNE/BATMAN, WITH THE EMPHASIS ON THE 'DETECTIVE' ASPECT OF THE BATMAN PERSONA (i.e MAKING BATMAN SUPER-SMART AS WELL AS SUPER-TOUGH); AND FLUID, VIOLENT PLOTTING, LOADED WITH ACTION, CONFRONTATIONS, AND THE SO-CALLED 'CLASSIC' BATMAN COMIC BOOK THREE-ACT PLOT. i.e. BATMAN CONFRONTS VILLIAN AND LOSES; BATMAN AND VILLIAN MEET AGAIN AND IT'S AN EQUAL MATCH; AND BATMAN AND VILLIAN FINALLY FACE-OFF, AT WHICH POINT BATMAN PREVAILS. THEY WERE REPORTEDLY LOOKING AT A TRILOGY OF 'BATMAN' FILMS BEFORE THE SPECTRE OF DOING 'THE MATRIX' SEQUELS BECAME A REALITY. AND BY THE WAY...KEANU REEVES WAS NOT(!!!) IN THE RUNNING FOR THE 'BRUCE WAYNE/BATMAN' ROLE; THE WACHOWSKI'S WERE REPORTEDLY LOOKING AT ACTORS LIKE JOHNNY DEPP, JUDE LAW AND GUY PEARCE, AMONGST OTHERS. SO: THE QUESTION REMAINS: HOW GOOD WOULD A WACHOWSKI BROTHERS 'BATMAN' TRILOGY BE??? PRETTY DAMN GOOD BY THE SOUNDS OF IT. AH, WELL...MAYBE WARNER BROS. SHOULD HAVE MADE THEM A BETTER OFFER...AND OFFERED TO LYNCH JOEL SCHUMACHER AT THE SAME TIME!"

Ah, what could have been....This is off-topic, but very important. BASEBALL FANS UNITE!! If you are a baseball fan and attend games, don't go to the ballpark July 11. There is an effort to organize a one day fan-boycott of major league baseball. Click here to go to MLBFANSTRIKE.COM to learn more. As some of you know, I am a Houston Astros season ticket holder and I am pissed at the idea of the looming strike by the ballplayers. If these sob's really do it, I am through with baseball. So, I will not be at the ballpark on July 11. You shouldn't either. Late.

A French Philosopher Talks Back to Hollywood and 'The Matrix'

By BRENT STAPLES

The French philosopher Jean Baudrillard seemed to fight off a yawn when I asked him recently about the celebrity that has come to him through "The Matrix," a futuristic cyber-thriller that hit the screen three years ago and became one of the hottest movies of all time. Before this movie, Mr. Baudrillard's dense little book "Simulacra and Simulation" was studied mainly by cloistered graduate students and theory-heads. Because "The Matrix" cribbed from the book for its dialogue and gave a full-screen shot of the title, "Simulacra and Simulation" has become a cult hit, even though it is difficult to pronounce and not easy to read. The book's profile is likely to rise even higher when the first of two sequels hits the screen next year.

Most writers would swoon over product placement like this. But Mr. Baudrillard was unimpressed when we conversed by e-mail recently. He noted that the film's "borrowings" from his work "stemmed mostly from misunderstandings" and suggested that no movie could ever do justice to the themes of this book. This sounds like a parody of a French intellectual, but it also happens to be true. "Simulacra and Simulation" is a tightly argued manifesto against a world in which humans increasingly appear as props in front of a computer-generated backdrop. Anyone who's read the book will find it hard to watch "Spiderman" or the latest "Star Wars" episode without being perpetually conscious of how the digitalized action scenes overshadow the human actors. Mr. Baudrillard sees the obsession with virtual reality not as mere amusement, but as an attack on the basic distinctions between the "true" and the "false," the imaginary and the real.

This apocalyptic message owes something to the work of the science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick (1928-82), a cult figure who wrote extensively about the moral problems that result when the distinctions between the natural and synthetic began to blur through cloning, artificial intelligence and android technology. Mr. Dick foresaw a future in which synthetic beings were mass-produced to be used as soldiers, assassins, Stepford-style love slaves and synthetic families next door, manufactured to keep settlers company when humans colonize other planets.

His most widely known novel, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" -- made into the wildly successful film "Blade Runner" ・centered on synthetic beings that escape servitude to pass as human, only to be tracked down and "retired" by a bounty killer. Hollywood's indifference to the moral fine points was evident by the way it changed the plot. The bounty killer in Mr. Dick's novel returns home to a realistically problematic marriage and a flesh-and-blood wife. In the movie, he falls in love and runs away with a synthetic woman manufactured by a firm whose motto is "More human than human." Since "Blade Runner," erotic involvement between humans and androids has evolved into a new form of soft-core cinema porn.

The hero of "The Matrix," played by Keanu Reeves, has the dignity to decline when offered an intimate digital encounter with a virtual blonde. This is a nice touch --and one of many references to Mr. Baudrillard's theories --but not enough to keep the movie from succumbing to the techno- and cyber-chauvinism that the philosopher hammers away at in "Simulacra and Simulation."

The movie portrays a Baudrillardian future in which tyrannical, hyper-intelligent machines have enslaved the human race and connected all the humans by cables to a computer matrix where they live in a virtual reality that only a few suspect to be false. The revolutionaries recruit a select few who participate in a cyber-war to overthrow the machines and restore civilization to its rightful place in the "real world."

The "real world," however, appears almost not at all in this movie. The heroes spend nearly all their time with their brains wired into cyberspace, where their virtual selves run up and down walls and leap effortlessly from one skyscraper top to another. Despite its anti-cyber rhetoric, the movie dwells mainly in the digital sphere, where the distinction between the real and the imaginary is blurry indeed.

The advance publicity on the next "Matrix" film talks about more special effects, suggesting that the real world that the heroes set out to save may have been placed permanently on the back burner. Given the success of digitalized movies like the "Star Wars" series, the merely real could soon be viewed as too boring to appear on film at all.

Reeves Teases Matrix Sequels

Keanu Reeves, who reprises the role of Neo in the upcoming sequel films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, told SCI FI Wire that his newly powerful character faces stiff challenges and continues his journey of discovery in the new films. "The brothers [writer-directors Andy and Larry Wachowski] have put up some great obstacles to test those powers, and the story kind of goes outside of the Matrix and starts to concern itself with the machines in Zion," Reeves said at a press conference at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, where the films are currently in production.

Reeves added, "So it痴 almost [that] what he can do in the Matrix is not enough. And he痴 still on the path of discovery and choice. He痴 told by the Oracle that ... he has some choices that he値l have to make that will affect the survival of the human race. And there are some hardships. And all of us are trying to save the world. And the development between Neo and Trinity [Carrie-Anne Moss] is explored, and with Morpheus [Laurence Fishburne] and [Agent] Smith [Hugo Weaving]. And so I think that痴 just about it. It痴 the development of the hero journey for my character, which is new challenges and choices. And it痴 not so much about being born. He wanted to find out where he was. Now he knows. Or he thinks he knows."

For his part, producer Joel Silver promised to reporters that the visual effects in the two sequels will outdo anything seen in movies so far. "When we made the first movie ... we didn稚 have an enormous amount of money to work with, and the boys had very strict ideas about a specific visual effect that they wanted to explore, and they ended up using it four times in the picture, and ... we called it ... bullet time. And it was during the Stone Age. It was a Stone Age effect. ... And immediately when the movie opened, we saw repetitions of that. ... Television commercials came first. They were the first out. And then we began seeing it in a few movies here and there. And then every movie. And it wasn稚 just the visual effects that were being stolen. ... It was the way the boys staged, shot, cut, moved the camera. It was pretty much everything they did began to be copied in every other movie."

Were the Wachowskis flattered? "For a while ... I bet they thought it was flattering," Silver said. "But after a while, they kind of got angry about it. So they decided that, in these two movies, they would create visual effects that could never be copied. So we have done visual effects for the movie that, because of the time that we took to make them and the cost, will never be seen again. So I really think that the bar has been raised so high that, you know, there is no bar. This will end the way movies have been made up to now, because they can go no further. The computer is allowing us to do things that we never dreamed we could do before. ... The [first film痴] bullet-time sequences ... were the beginning, the embryonic stage of what computers could do. It痴 just now at such a level that they can do anything they want. And the great thing about it is that ... the guys have enough intellect and understand the process enough so they are able to create an arena that this stuff can exist in that could not exist anywhere else."

Both films will shoot for another two months or so. The Matrix Reloaded is eyeing a May 2003 release; Revolutions may open in the fall of 2003.

Access Hollywood Description (Matrix 2)

This description comes from The Dark Mallard! Awesome man, awesome: This is the annotation of Access Hollywood last night. I am not sure if everything is correct, because I do not know what a "cannon roll" or a "cannon pipe" is. But here is the annotation:

NARRATOR: You're gonna like this. Welcome back. "The Matrix" raised the bar of special effects. Next year's sequel, "The Matrix Reloaded", takes stunts to a whole new level. Buckle up for a car chase that leaves anything you've seen before... in the dust.

LAURENCE FISHBURNE: The movies will be unstoppably watchable.

CARRIE-ANNE MOSS: We're trying to do something more extreme.

KEANU REEVES: The action aspect of it is much more complex.

NARRATOR: Call it choreographed insanity: Careening cars; Mac trucks out of control; Perhaps the most audacious car chase in the history of cinema; Action so intense, they buiult a freeway from scratch to pull it off.

KEANU REEVES: When you flew into San Fransisco, you could see it from the sky. It was cool to drive on. It was two sides, two three-lane directions, with overpasses...

R.A. RONDELL (STUNT COORDINATOR): 1.4 Miles, three lanes of traffic, all brand-new asphault. A giant playground, is what it became.

NARRATOR: A playground frought with danger, as the stars push themselves to their physical limit, to do many of their own pulse-pounding stunts. For this scene, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss were actually in the car as it appeared to spin out of control. And Carrie-Anne jumped on a bike for this high-speed cat and mouse chase.

R.A. RONDELL: Carrie Anne basically had some motorcycle background from her childhood. She did very very well. They all excel with instruction.

NARRATOR: Every detail of the action was meticulously planned for maximum visual fear. Cameras were placed inches from speeding vehicles so you'd actually feel like you were there. Cars were sliced in two so they'd come apart on impact. And stunt coordinators literally dodged death over and over to make each shot better than the next. But perhaps the biggest risk of all when stunt coordinators decided to choreograph one of the most ambitious multi-car chase scenes ever attempted. Almost unheard of all of the action would happen simultaneously, something rarely ever done because one wrong move, and you've got an eminent disaster.

R.A. RONDELL: Two cannon rolls in it, two dragon pipe ramps, two T-bones, and a jack-knifing truck all in the same 250 feet of the freeway, all at 60 miles an hour, and choreographed to do that, and to do it twice.

NARRATOR: Talk about raising the bar. See how it all plays out when the Joel Silver-produced "The Matrix Reloaded" hits theaters a year from thursday, May 23rd, 2003.

(EW)(CA-WARNER-BROS/MATRIX) First Teaser Trailer for Warner Bros. Pictures' `The Matrix Reloaded' and `The Matrix Revolutions' Scores 20 Million Page Views at TheMatrix.com

Business/Entertainment Editors & Internet/Film Writers

BURBANK, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--May 23, 2002--Fans around the globe have converged upon TheMatrix.com to view the first teaser trailer for "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions," the hotly anticipated sequels to Warner Bros. Pictures' ground-breaking, Academy Award-winning action blockbuster "The Matrix."

TheMatrix.com has received over 20 million page views since the teaser trailer was released, demonstrating unprecedented Web traffic at a feature film Web site over a year in advance of the release of "The Matrix Reloaded," the second installment in the trilogy that stars Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss and Hugo Weaving.

In the first 72 hours following its release on May 15, the trailer was downloaded over 2 million times, shattering records previously set by Web sites for "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and "The Lord of the Rings." (If these "Matrix" downloads were played back to back, the trailer would run continuously for over five years.) This translates into over 8,000 gigabytes of data being downloaded worldwide, an amount that would typically crush or freeze most Web servers -- but through the power and support of the AOL server which houses the site, fans were able to view the trailer and explore the world of TheMatrix.com to optimum effect.

"The teaser trailer clearly drove the initial traffic, but the jump in hits above and beyond the teaser is a testament to the fans' massive sustained interest in the sequels," producer Joel Silver noted. "TheMatrix.com is our direct connection to the fans, and it is our singular purpose to provide unique and continuous content to the online community."

Based in Sydney, Australia -- where "Reloaded" and "Revolutions" are simultaneously in production under the auspices of writer-directors Larry and Andy Wachowski -- TheMatrix.com Web team, overseen by Spencer Lamm, has developed a comprehensive site that features interviews; first-look photos; online comics; QUICKTIME virtual reality tours of sets used in the sequels; and previews of "Matrix"-related anime short films, which will begin to be released on the site in the fall, along with more mind-blowing content which is presently being kept under wraps.

"The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions" will be released worldwide in 2003 by Warner Bros. Pictures, an AOL Time Warner Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.

The Matrix-based MMORPG Announced

Warner Bros., Monolith Productions and EON Entertainment are producing a massively multiplayer online video game based on the hugely successful "The Matrix" franchise, it was announced today by Kevin Tsujihara, Executive Vice President, Corporate Business Development & Strategy, Warner Bros.; Jason Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Monolith Productions; and EON Entertainment, a collaboration between the films' producers, Joel Silver, and the films' creators, writers and director, Larry and Andy Wachowski.

Able to accommodate tens of thousands of players in a single shared environment, the game will be a re-creation of the virtual world of "The Matrix," employing cutting-edge 3-D graphics, networking and server technology. The game will combine the best elements of the action-adventure genre and character building/role playing games with the social interaction/community of an ongoing online game. Under the direction of Warner Bros., Monolith Productions and EON Entertainment will design the game using LithTech's Discovery System, a completely new set of tools and technology, including a new 3-D renderer and high-capacity server system, built to accommodate the unique challenges presented in the creation of this type of product.

"`The Matrix' is a perfect property on which to base a massively multiplayer online game," said Tsujihara. "This project will combine the online entertainment resources and expertise of Warner Bros. and AOL Time Warner with one of the most cutting-edge game developers in the world."

"We know fans of the franchise are extremely dedicated and loyal and we intend to do everything we can to remain true to `The Matrix,' while providing them with the ultimate online gaming experience," said Hall.

Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Matrix," released in 1999, took in more than $475 million in box office worldwide. The next two segments of the trilogy, "The Matrix: Reloaded" and "The Matrix: Revolutions," are scheduled for release in 2003. Warner Bros. Online will premiere its new Matrix Web site on May 16, 2003, as the teaser trailer for the two upcoming films appears nationwide in theaters. www.thematrix.com will now be the official online source for all things "The Matrix."

Don't forget to visit The Matrix.com to watch the teaser trailer of the upcoming sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions.

-- Cesar

For the Wachowski Brothers, Sydney is The Matrix

Date:22-May-2002
From:Daily Telegraph(Thanks countingdown.com)
(The detail is here)

For the Wachowski Brothers, Sydney is The Matrix

Filming for The Matrix sequels has Sydney bursting, with the film's main base, Fox Studios at Moore Park, filled to capacity. Warehouses in the city are also being used. Reportedly, hundreds of sets have been built for the film, while external scenes have been filmed at Governor Phillip Tower, Redfern Railyards and the White Bay Power Station.

"It's the single biggest project that's ever been filmed here," said one observer, claiming it even dwarfs Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones and Mission Impossible 2."

The article also mentions that the Wachowski brothers reportedly are working on a TV series, based on The Matrix.

Matrix 2 & 3 Filming in Sydney, Australia

On Monday, the 13th of March, the crew filming The Matrix 2 and 3 (Reloaded and Revolutions respectively) in Sydney, Australia informed residents and workers within the vicinity of Castlereagh Street that on the 16th (Wednesday) they would be blocking off traffic at 8:30 pm sharp in between the Bathurst and Liverpool Street intersections. For those of you that aren’t aware, Castlereagh Street is in the CBD and is quite busy most hours of the day. The crew advised that they would be employing all car parking spaces, and would only permit workers, or residents in the vicinity to remain within the area.

This article focuses on important, life-changing questions that you must surely be asking yourself, such as:

Was my old mate, Keanu, there? Was there any fighting or action? What IS the Matrix and what happens to it?

Those questions have answers of ‘no’, ‘not really’ and ‘I have no idea’. However, to find out “What DOES appear in this sequence?”, read on!

It so happens that I live one block and 22 stories in the air away from where all the filming would be taking place. News spread, and a quite a few people turned up, including a fair amount of bystanders that gathered around on the intersection between Bathurst and Castlereagh. At 8:30 pm, the crew and cameramen were setting up their equipment – this involved several setting up cameras from people cranes similar to those you see being used by the telephone companies. I’m sure you’re more interested in finding out exactly what was happening, however.

On set, as you can see from the pictures below, they removed street signs saying “Keep Clear” and “Fire Trucks Enter” (there’s a Fire Station directly opposite), and replaced them with signs that said “No Entry – Except For Trucks Loading And Unloading 7AM – 4PM Mon Thru Fri”.

Right in the middle of the street, they had earlier drilled and dug a rectangular hole. In the picture below, you can see the recess where the hole was dug, and one of the cameramen carrying some sort of device (I’ll leave you to figure out what it is – I have absolutely no idea).

In this picture, you can see another crewmember holding something on top of a manhole cover. He took quite awhile holding that device above it until he was satisfied with it. Yet again, I’m uncertain about its purpose.

And now, what you’ve all been waiting for! – What’s in this particular sequence/scene? Now, all of you die-hard Matrix fans out there (and there must be a lot of you, I’m one myself) will most definitely know the significance of phones in the Matrix! If you recall, there’s one scene in a subway station where there’s a phone booth. Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) picks up the ringing phone, and disappears. Now here’s the juicy bit – yes, I present to you, a *genuine* fake telephone booth that you WILL be seeing in the movie, complete with matching newspaper stand! A close-up shot of the phone booth is also available below. Notice the graffiti and how dirty the handset is (it IS dirty, and it was admittedly a bit interesting to actually get a chance to stand right inside!).

In front of the phone booth, you can see a Cadillac (it’s what I’m assuming anyway, since you don’t see many in Australia) parked right in front of it. From what I could tell, there is a person within the Cadillac (whose appearance may or may not be noticeable in the final film)? Not too tall either.

Now, for the part that actually has some sort of action inside it – they were filming this well until 3 am in the morning, over, and over, and OVER again. A truck’s tires screech as, out of nowhere, it accelerates along the street with lights fully turned on, zooming past the Cadillac, over the rectangular hole that was dug earlier. This was the main thing that they were filming! Okay, so it wasn’t really that exciting, as anyone who’s watched a movie being produced knows how many takes one scene requires.

To cut a long story short, it was about midnight when I decided to walk one block home because it was getting way too cold (it’s Winter down here), not much was happening – only the truck kept zooming down the street. Not too soon either, since I later found out they were having a “lunch” break at 1am in the morning (cheers Hyrax), for another hour. From what I could see from my balcony (it’s where my workstation is), things wrapped up shortly after 2 am, possibly towards 2:30 am. I can only speculate at this point that this was to replace the street signs, clear all the equipment away etc.

So, this is basically about all this *sneak* peek at one of the scenes in the Matrix 2 or 3 contains.

Questions I had earlier managed to ask one of the crew members (and their response) were as follows:

Me: Will any of the stars from the movie be here tonight?

Crewlady: (shakes head) Unfortunately not.

Me: Which movie, Matrix 2: Reloaded or Matrix 3: Revolutions, will this particular scene be in? Crewlady: I’m sorry, but I can’t say. However, we have been shooting bits and pieces of the film in between scenes at various locations already (This is of course, at Sydney’s Fox Studios).

Me: (cheesy grin) Can I take a picture of myself in the fake phone booth?

Crewlady: Sure, go ahead!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, Matrix fans WORLDWIDE, concludes this little preview. Interesting, to say the least, but ultimately, nothing more than a little *sneak* at one of the telephone booths that will be used. It is entirely my speculation at this point, but I have a strong feeling that there will be a scene in which Neo (Keanu Reeves) either attempts to reach this phone booth (with it ringing?) or does reach it to be transported from the Matrix back to “reality”? We’ll only find out about this time, next year, unfortunately… in the meantime, the latest teaser trailer can be downloaded from whatisthematrix.warnerbrothers.com . It looks set to be another cult classic in my books.

New Ma-tricks

By MARK BOWNESS

HERE are the first fantastic pictures from the sequel to smash-hit movie The Matrix.

As our exclusive photos show, The Matrix Reloaded will be even more exciting and stunning to look at than the original.

Filming of Reloaded and its follow-up, The Matrix Revolution, has just been completed in Australia at a cost of ｣100million.

Hollywood hunk Keanu Reeves picked up ｣35million to appear in both movies.

He plays computer hacker Neo, who joins the rebels to fight evil machines in a parallel world to stop them taking over the planet. As these pictures show, the stunts are set to be stupendous.

In one scene, martial arts expert Neo battles FOUR versions of evil Agent Smith, played by Hugo Weaver.

And Laurence Fishburne, who plays samurai sword-wielding good guy rebel leader Morpheus, takes on two albino hitmen in a stunning set-to in an underground car park.

The Matrix Reloaded is set for release next summer, with The Matrix Revolution following a couple of months later.

But filming of the sequels, which again stars Carrie-Anne Moss as sexy rebel Trinity, has been marred by tragedy.

Keanu's personal life was shattered when girlfriend Jennifer Syme had a stillborn baby.

As they were recovering from that heartache, Jennifer was killed in a car crash.

Then a motorbike accident left Keanu badly injured.

Singer Aaliyah, 22, who was to have had a major role in The Matrix Reloaded, was killed in a plane crash last August.

And actress Gloria Foster, 64, who played The Oracle in the first film and was contracted for both sequels, died in October.

The Matrix became one of the most talked about movies ever when it was released in 1999.

Its state-of-the-art special effects and slow-motion martial arts scenes helped it to four Oscars and spawned copycat movies and computer games.

The film made ｣300million worldwide and became the fastest-selling DVD on record. To date more than 20million copies of it have been snapped up on video and DVD.

Movie insiders are predicting the sequels will do even better at the box office.

Heroes ... Neo and Lock (Harold Perrineau) get set to fight

A Warner Bros insider said: The Matrix changed the face of cinema with its special effects and action sequences. These two new films will leave fans spellbound.

'There is no way on earth that audiences will leave cinemas disappointed.'

To see a trailer of the two new films log on to www.thematrix.com

Matrix Video Game Coming

Monday, May 20, 2002 9:34 CDT

The following is from a press release:

Infogrames' Enter The Matrix Goes Cross-Platform at Launch

Exclusive Showing of First Official Film Trailer for THE MATRIX RELOADED And THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS at E3

LOS ANGELES, May 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Infogrames, Inc. (Nasdaq: IFGM), a leading global publisher of interactive entertainment software, announces that its highly anticipated video game, Enter The Matrix, developed in conjunction with the upcoming sequel to the critically acclaimed Academy Award-winning action thriller THE MATRIX, will be created for all next-generation platforms, including the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox(TM) video game system from Microsoft, the Nintendo GameCube and the personal computer.

Developed by Infogrames' Shiny Entertainment, Enter The Matrix, is currently scheduled to be released simultaneously on all platforms in conjunction with the theatrical release of THE MATRIX RELOADED from Warner Bros. Pictures in May 2003.

To kick off the game, Infogrames will show the first official movie trailer for the highly anticipated sequels, THE MATRIX RELOADED and THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS, in the Company's booth (South Hall #924) at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) May 22 - 24, 2002 in Los Angeles.

"THE MATRIX redefined the action genre for the film industry and movie audiences, and the never-before-seen gameplay and technology behind Enter The Matrix will redefine next-generation video games," said Bruno Bonnell, Chairman and CEO of Infogrames. "There has been extensive creative crossover that has taken place in the development of the film and the game. Warner Bros., Joel Silver, the film's producer, and Larry and Andy Wachowski, the film's writers, creators, and directors, have clearly shown their appreciation for the connection between the interactive world and THE MATRIX audiences. We are thrilled to unite the two with the screening in our E3 booth of the first official trailer for THE MATRIX RELOADED and THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS."

The trailer for THE MATRIX RELOADED and THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS will play in the Infogrames E3 booth (#924) in Los Angeles, Calif. at 12:30pm and 4:00pm on May 22nd; 11:30am, 2:45pm, and 5:15pm on May 23rd; and 11:30am and 2:45pm on May 24th.

Police to copy Matrix moves

Police officers are being trained in a form of self-defence spectacularly employed by Keanu Reeves in hit action movie The Matrix.

The Canadian developer of the Spontaneous Protection Enabling Accelerated Response (SPEAR) course is arriving in Britain later this month to teach the unique skills to officers from 22 forces.

Tony Blauer's technique, which involves promoting quick reactions, inspired some of the astonishing action seen in Hollywood's 1999 science fiction blockbuster.

Officers attending the course hosted by Warwickshire Constabulary will learn how to manage the psychological and physical effects of fear.

They will be taught how to turn defensive reactions - such as the urge to cover their eyes, face or other vital organs - into an "open-handed blow" to their assailant.

Pc Simon Rogers of Warwickshire's firearms operations and training department said: "We do the Matrix Drill. You know the bit where Keanu Reeves stands still and just moves his body as the bullets fly past him?

"This is what we teach officers to do - to dodge and move and to keep their feet still."

Two sequels to The Matrix, which also starred Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss and Hugo Weaving, are due to be released next year.

Police to copy Matrix self-defence moves

Police officers are to be trained in a form of self-defence employed by Keanu Reeves in the action movie The Matrix.

The Canadian developer of the Spontaneous Protection Enabling Accelerated Response (Spear) course will arrive in Britain later this month to teach the skills to officers from 22 forces.

Tony Blauer's technique inspired some of the action seen in Hollywood's 1999 science fiction blockbuster.

This week's Police Review magazine said officers attending the course hosted by Warwickshire Constabulary will learn how to manage the psychological and physical effects of fear.

They will be taught how to turn defensive reactions - such as the urge to cover their eyes, face or other vital organs - into an "open-handed blow" to their assailant.

Pc Simon Rogers, of Warwickshire's firearms operations and training department, told the magazine: "We do the Matrix Drill. You know the bit where Keanu Reeves stands still and just moves his body as the bullets fly past him?

"This is what we teach officers to do - to dodge and move and to keep their feet still."

Into the Matrix

Dude, Keanu Reeves is kung-fu fighting again.

Just as Star Wars blasts into theatres, fans are about to get a glimpse at next year's most-anticipated blockbuster.

A teaser trailer for the two sequels to The Matrix debuts tonight on the movie's official website.

A preview for The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions is also set to air on Entertainment Tonight.

Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss all return for the sequels.

Reloaded is due in May 2003 with Revolutions following later that year.

Released in 1999, The Matrix, directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, grossed more than $450 million worldwide and broke new ground with its Oscar-winning special effects.

In Canada, the trailer goes up around 9 p.m. tonight at www.thematrix.com.

-- Calgary Sun

Attention Entertainment And Film Editors:

Matrix Sequels Go Worldwide; The Teaser Trailer for 'The Matrix Reloaded' and 'The Matrix Revolutions'

The Most Anticipated Films of 2003 Gives Fans a Tease One Year Early

LOS ANGELES, May 14 /CNW/ -- Stars Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss reprise their roles for two sequels set to hit theaters in 2003. The highly anticipated sequels to the genre-bending, groundbreaking, Academy Award winning blockbuster "The Matrix" won't be out until 2003, but directors Larry and Andy Wachowski, producer Joel Silver and Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures and NPV Entertainment have put together just a taste of what fans have to look forward to next year. "The Matrix Reloaded" will be released in the U.S. and many territories around the world in May 2003 with "The Matrix Revolutions" following later that year.

USA, Canada and Mexico Distribution
Date: 15th May 2002 / Time: 8:00pm - 8:15pm PACIFIC
Satellite: Telstar 6 Transponder 11(C)
Downlink Frequency: 3920 / Audio: 6.2 & 6.8


Date: 16th May 2002 / Time: 5:00am - 5:15am EASTERN
Satellite: Telstar 6 Transponder 11(C)
Downlink Frequency: 3920 / Audio: 6.2 & 6.8

Europe Distribution
Date: 16th May 2002 / Time: 0300-0315 GMT & 0900-0915 GMT
Satellite: NewSkies Intelsat K
Transponder: H8
Downlink Frequency: 11669.5 / Symbol rate: 6.111319
FEC: 3/4 / Color: PAL

Latin and South America Distribution
Date: 16th May 2002 / Time: 0300-0315 GMT & 0900-0915 GMT
Satellite: PAS 9 at 58 degrees west / Transponder: 24c Slot A - Virtual
Channel 201
Downlink Frequency: 4146.5 / Symbol rate: 6.62000 / FEC: 2/3 / Color: NTSC

Asia and Pacific Distribution
Date: 16th May 2002 / Time: 0300-0315 GMT & 0900-0915 GMT
Satellite: Pacific Ocean Region (POR) 180 degree Intelsat satellite.
Digital format: Scientific Atlanta Mpeg 2 PowerVu
Transponder: 21/11 upper - digital channel 4
Downlink Freq: 3769 MHz / Polarity: RHCP
IRD Channel Four / Bit rate 8.4 Mbps / FEC 7/8 / Symbol Rate:
20.0 MBaud / Color: NTSC

SPOTTED . . . Will Smith and family (including nanny) paying Mothers' Day respect to Jada Pinkett-Smith in the private room at swank east Circular Quay nosh palace Aria on Sunday ... Matrix star Laurence "Don't call me Larry" Fishburne shopping at David Jones in Bondi Junction late on Sunday afternoon . . . Marvin Gaye's daughter actress Nona Gaye, who also stars in The Matrix sequel enjoying a few drinks with two girlfriends at Tank nightclub on Friday night.

Matrix Trailer Release Details

The first teaser to the MATRIX: RELOADED and THE MATRIX: REVOLUTIONS is set to be released on Wednesday May 15th, with its world premier on Entertainment Tonight. To see it in theaters, it will be attached to a certain film due out this week. If you miss it, don't worry, you can view it here, at www.TheMatrix.com, directly after its final airing on Entertainment Tonight. That's roughly 9pm PST, May 15th.

For this online release, we've decided to go digital... this is THE MATRIX, after all. We compressed this first teaser directly from the 2K digital source files, over 20 gigabytes of data. Why'd we bother? No scan lines, capable of far higher resolutions, zero transfer loss. More shortly.

On Set With Matrix 2

Having a slow day at work? Well rub the boredom from your eyes and listen up because US show Entertainment Tonight paid a set visit to a certain production by the brothers Wachowski and video interviews with Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne now await your viewing pleasure.

Undoubtedly a high point in next year's movie calendar, The Matrix Reloaded and its sequel are halfway done, and, by all accounts, destined to be utterly brilliant.

"It's pushed me to my limits," said Reeves. "Before it was like, 'Can you do two kicks?' and now it's like, 'Can you do three kicks, but with a jumping backspin hook-kick?' So it's like you have learned to walk -- now can you fly."

According to Jada Pinkett-Smith: "These sequels are going to blast the original off the screen, and that's exactly what the fans want."

To see Reeves describe some of the tendon-snapping martial arts requirements and hear Fishburne reveal a tonne of information about the films' plot, click here.

Pics from the set of MATRIX 2!!!
Hey folks, Harry here... Looky! Matrix stuff... weeeeeeeee!!!

GDay Harry,

Some of your talk-backers thought that it was a waste of time letting us know about the Matrix filming down here in Sydney. Well, I'd like to ask that you continue to let us know when something is happening.........where ever in the world it may be.

You've got a hell of a following the world over. I met two other guys at the Matrix set today who were both there because they read your article. Rest assured, if you put out the word.........one of your spies will turn up at that location and find out whatever they can. So, today, at about 2pm Sydney time, I arrived at Governor Phillip Tower in the centre of Sydney. Outside the building was a hundred or so extras, (they all wore business suits, and looked like they were part of the training program in the original Matrix which featured the Lady in the Red Dress). The extras were all called by the 2nd Unit Director into the building lobby and lined up. I couldn't get into the lobby, but tried to zoom in (one of the extras is seen waving at me....lucky bastard).

MATRIX Sequel Shooting In Sydney, Australia This Saturday! Hey folks, Harry here... Here's the latest on MATRIX 2 & 3 shooting still in Australia! Hope to hear from some of y'all about what was a going on on set! Maybe some pics, but be careful... them agents are everywhere!

Hi Harry,

Tenants in my building, Governor Phillip Tower in Sydney, received an email informing us that the Matrix Reloaded is filming here on Saturday. Governor Phillip Tower was also the building used in Mission Impossible II. fyi: It's really quite solid, there isn't an atrium in the centre of the building.

"For your information ....

Notice to all tenants of GPT / GMT and Phillip Street Terraces

Matrix II Productions will be filming in the building on Saturday 11th May. They will be on site all day and will be filming in the loggia, the lift lobby area of GPT and the courtyard.

Access to the building will not be affected, however, if staff experience any problems on the day they should speak to a Security Officer or the Concierge. There will be an increased security presence on site.

Regards

Kate

The end sequence of Matrix 3, considered to be the prize of the Matrix sequel visual effects work, has been awarded to Tippett Studio. "We're thrilled to be part of this great sequel," said Craig Hayes, Tippett Studio Visual Effects Supervisor who leads a team of talented Tippett craftsman onto one of its most challenging productions to date. Work has commenced and will continue into eary summer of 2003. The Tippett team will be closely coordinating their efforts with Matrix 3 visual effects supervisor, John Gaeta, and visual effects producer, Terry Clotiaux. The epic sequels, shooting back to back are in their second year of principal photography in Australia. Directed by The Wachowski Brothers, Larry and Andy, the movie stars Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburn and Carrie-Ann Moss. Producer Joel Silver and his Eon Production team are producing the Matrix 3 for Warner Bros. for an early Fall, 2003, release.

'Matrix' Mania Begins!

Let the countdown commence! The two 'Matrix' sequels won't arrive until 2003, but don't fret: ET has the exclusive world premiere of not only 'The Matrix Reloaded' teaser trailer, but 'The Matrix Revolutions' teaser, too -- all coming next Wednesday night!

After spending months boning up on their martial arts and high-wire training, KEANU REEVES, LAURENCE FISHBURNE, CARRIE-ANNE MOSS and bad guy HUGO WEAVING are hard at work in Sydney, Australia filming the back-to-back sequels to the 1999 box-office smash.

"The sequel carves a continuation of [my character] Neo's journey and his quest to find out the truth," Keanu reveals to ET. "It's more about the conflict with the machines and the humans."

And this time around, the stunts and special effects in 'Reloaded' and 'Revolutions' are even more spectacular than the first go-around!

"We are trying to do some crazy things out here," offers Keanu. "The kung-fu sequences are more sophisticated and more challenging than the first film. Some of the wire work [allows me to] do back flips and cartwheels all in one shot.

"It's pushed me to my limits. Before it was like, 'Can you do two kicks?' and now it's like, 'Can you do three kicks, but with a jumping backspin hook-kick?' So it's like you have learned to walk -- now can you fly."

Although co-directors ANDY and LARRY WACHOWSKI are keeping all of the 'Reloaded' and 'Revolutions' storylines 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 in summer 2003. 'The Matrix Revolutions,' is due just months later in November 2003. The original 'The Matrix' and a special behind-the-scenes documentary, 'The Matrix Revisited,' are both currently available on VHS and DVD.

Don't forget to watch ET Wednesday night for the exclusive world premiere of both teaser trailers!

The Matrix Revealed

Trying to prise information about the plotlines for the Matrix sequels has arguably been harder than getting George Lucas to open up about Episode II. So we were frankly delighted to see that Time Magazine not only managed to go on set of The Matrix Reloaded but took away the first official picture of filming and some scant storyline details.

In a report in this week's magazine, Joel Silver explains the sequential importance of the next two Matrix movies; 'The first movie was like The Hobbit for The Lord of the Rings. It's the setup to the big story.' Apparently the second movie will be spent mainly in the world of the Matrix, while the third will be set in the 'scorched real world'.

True to form, the special effects promise to be as ground-breaking as they were in the first film, but as special effects guru John Gaeta. 'We're just trying to make the best and most surreal action ever,' he says, although, 'there's pressure to do it without going into military-budget levels.'

Click here to see the Time picture. For more stories on the making of The Matrix reloaded, click here for Empire Online's Future Films section.

just attended a session with Paul Warren, who was cinematographer on the matrix revisited, in Melbourne. It's not very often that stuff like this involving films happens here so i was very eager to attend. Anyway, it was a fairly interesting "frame by frame" where Paul started by talking about some of his previous works like a doco called "Tropic Gothic" and the movie with soccer-crazed monks called "the cup". Once he discussed these he moved onto the main aspect which was his role in the matrix revisited AND "the matrix revisted 2" (probably not the real name, but you get by drift). Most of the material comes from questions/answers/discussions in the session and some are responses to questions i asked afterward. I am pretty sure it is ok for me to post this stuff due to the fact that he was so secretive when pressured about the sequels - i assume that he was allowed to say everything that he did. Go to the end of this post for stuff involving the sequels specifically.

Just note that he did talk and show some of his earlier works (which were quite interesting), but seeing as this post is for matrix fans, and i already have noted a lot with just the matrix, i won't really go into them here..

Anyway, here is most of what i could glean from my memory afterwards (i don't believe i forgot too much) in semi-logical point form, including some small exclusives ;-))

Involving Revisited/matrix 1:

-the brothers worked together really well.. never any conflicts

-hundreds of hours of footage, various formats.

-"trust" enables good material. you may miss something because of this trust, like actors being really emotional, but you just hope that you will get something good again later on.

-comparing a small film like "tropic gothic" to the matirx is going from the sublime to the ridiculous. when queried he said this would apply both ways. both are different but hard in their own ways.

-he said sometimes hollywood productions seem like "big lumbering machines(?)".. slowly plodding along. eventually, after hours, you will get one shot of e.g. closeup on neo's face... can sometimes seem like watching paint dry. the task with the doco is to show what goes into movie but keep interesting.

-he mentioned that the finished product (Whilst very good) was a lot to do with the editing room, rather than being figured out e.g. on set.

-apparently it is the biggest selling doco (according to head of digital productions from aftrs [or something like that]) on dvd in the u.s.

Involving Revisited 2:

-they are documenting EVERYTHING. including production of things like the anime..

-the interview with bros in hotel (filmed year ago? or more...) will probably be their last ever if they have anything to do with it. he said they are just normal chicago guys

-at the moment they have about 450 hours of footage from the sequels, compared to several hundred for the original. this is on a variety of formats.

-he said the doco will be huge, perfect for dvd

-he doesn't know how josh (the director) will be able to log and work out all the material in his mind. there's so much stuff.

Involving the sequels/games/site...:

-The script to the matrix was sold to Warner as a three-parter. I am pretty sure the whole thing was written at the time it was sold to warner.

-The bros didn't really expect the sequels to be made (although i am sure the wished to), until it was realised the first was a success

-the "style" will be continuous. he said it (the trilogy) woukd work as one long movie if you really wanted to do it that way.

-the last shot of the first matrix is literally (maybe not literally... but pretty close) the first shot of reloaded. the last shot of reloaded is the first of revolutions

-the special effects stuff will be amazing... people can't even imagine it based on what they've seen at the moment. he said something along the lines of "it will really be pushing the bubble"

-the site will be HUGE. every drawing, every etching... will be on there

-the sequels are being shot on FILM. he was pretty criticial of digital at the moment (from a technical standpoint).. specifically HD but said it will probably eventually reach same quality as film. he said HD really doesn't even look as good as 16mm. he cited something from star wars episode 2.. apparently they had trouble filming some clothes or something.. they kept giving a moireing effect when filmed with HD.. i don't know if they resorted to FILM in the end (although i don't think so)

-sometimes you have a vision in mind that you know exactly.. but when you come on set (talking about both the doco production and the film's production) their are unexpected logistical problems you have to overcome to acheive the required shot. he mentioned something that occured last week(?) on the film's production but as he couldn't reveal anything or give descriptions this was incredibly cryptic....

-he said the agreement that he had to sign which says he can't discuss it was (using hands to indicate size) about 15cm (5.5inches?) thick. i don't know if this was to be taken literally but i so wouldn't be suprised. he said you read it and by the end your sayign (okay, okay i wont talk about it). he said he really wants to talk about the sequels but obviously he can't

-the movie/game/revisited 2 are in parallel production at the moment.

-he mentioned a 12mth shoot. i can't remember if this was for the original or sequels, but from what i can remember hearing from both i'm pretty sure it was the sequels

-he mentioned that they had 100% access. i can't remember if he said this in relation to the original or sequels, but taking into account the agreement he signed i assumed it applied to both.

-he said the special effects will be so amazing, that not liking the plot is irrelevant (although i'm sure he wasnt infering there was anything wrong with the plot of the seqeuls ;-)

-jokingly, he mentioned how huge the production is and he wondered how long the credits will be.. he said they migh end up being around 10 mins ;-)

i hope you enjoyed the content in this post

Keanu goes full cycle

Date:08-May-2002
From:Sydney Morning Herald
(The detail is here)

Keanu goes full cycle

The two sequels to The Matrix will be released within months of one another next year, Time magazine reports in its current issue. The first sequel, Matrix Reloaded, is due to be released in May, and the second, Matrix Revolutions, in August or November. The sequels are currently being shot back-to-back in Sydney.

In an interview with Time, star Keanu Reeves said cryptically that the 1999 original was ''about birth".

''The second is life; the third is death," Reeves said.

The Arts/Show Business

The Matrix Reloads

It's high kicks, high tech and high concepts, as we peek inside the two Matrix sequels now shooting Down Under

Monday, May. 13, 2002
When we last visited the Matrix, computers had taken over the planet and imprisoned the human race in a computer-generated "reality." Keanu Reeves played Neo, a hacker turned superhero recruited to save his fellow man, and the movie ended with him literally taking flight. It was a cliff-hanger that might as well have been subtitled "Watch for the sequel, coming soon to a theater near you--that is, if this thing makes any money."

And it did--$459 million worldwide. More than a sleeper blockbuster, it was a blazingly original collage of martial arts, Oscar-winning special effects and high-toned philosophy borrowed from sources as diverse as Plato, the Bible and Snow White. Since Larry and Andy Wachowski, the fraternal directing duo, had always envisioned The Matrix as part one of a trilogy, Warner Bros. quickly put not one but two more Matrix films into production. "The first movie was like The Hobbit for The Lord of the Rings," says producer Joel Silver. "It's the setup to the big story."

The Wachowski brothers are currently in residence at the Fox studios in Sydney, Australia, simultaneously shooting Matrix Reloaded (part two) and Matrix Revolutions (part three). The movies won't come out until 2003 (Reloaded in May, Revolutions in either August or November), but the hype has already begun. This month a trailer for Reloaded hits theaters, and not since the Star Wars movies has a film inspired so much breathless anticipation on the Internet.

Details about the further adventures of Neo have been closely guarded, but we found some clues on the set in Sydney, where the cast and crew have been working since September and are expected to wrap this summer. On a remote corner of a sound stage stand dozens of latex, life-size replicas of the dastardly Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), all in single file. Why so many Smiths? Since the original film, Smith has learned to replicate himself (he's a computer virus), which means Neo will have to fight several Smiths at once.

Across the stage, in front of the cameras and under the lights, we find Reeves in his familiar uniform (long black coat, dark shades) at the bottom of a crater being drenched by a rainstorm manufactured by overhead sprinklers. Later, drying off in his trailer, Reeves won't elaborate on that particular shot (it takes place in a climactic battle scene in part three), but he does give the following overview of the trilogy: "The first one is about birth," says Reeves. "The second one is life; the third is death." Thanks, Keanu.

This much we know: in parts two and three, Neo must persuade the omnipotent machines to set his people free. The action-packed part two takes place primarily in the gleaming world of the Matrix, while the more serious-minded part three is set in the scorched real world. In the sequels, we will also visit the vast underground city of Zion, inhabited by the few hundred thousand humans who have managed to escape cyberimprisonment. Laurence Fishburne (as the sage Morpheus) and Carrie-Anne Moss (as Neo's love interest, Trinity) are also back. This time they're joined by Jada Pinkett Smith as Niobe, another rebel and a former lover of Morpheus', and Nona Gaye (daughter of Marvin). Gaye stepped in to replace R.-and-B. singer Aaliyah, who had been cast in the role of Zee, a resident of Zion, before she died in a plane crash last year. Gloria Foster, who played the wise old Oracle in the original, also died in September, at age 64, after she shot her scenes for part two. What about part three? Thanks to a quick rewrite on the script, the Oracle will be back, but in a different form.

In the world of the Matrix, all things are possible, but the vexing real-life question is, How do you top a film whose unique style has been copied by nearly every action movie since? "We're just trying to make the best and most surreal action ever," says visual-effects supervisor John Gaeta, who developed the groundbreaking and extremely cool "bullet time" technique, in which the camera seemed to circle Reeves in slow motion as he dodged bullets. Gaeta says he's "expanding" on that technique for the sequels, though "there's pressure to do it without going into military-budget levels." Too late. Warner Bros. will spend close to $300 million on Matrix two and three, all in hopes that Neo can still soar.

Matrix World

A number of books on the coming Singularity are in the works and will soon appear. In 2003, the sequel to the blockbuster film The Matrix will delve into the philosophy and origins of Earth's machine-controlled future. Matrix cast members were required to read Wired editor Kevin Kelly's 1994 book Out of Control: The Rise of Neo-biological Civilization. Page one reads, "The realm of the born - all that is nature - and the realm of the made - all that is humanly constructed - are becoming one."

She told TimeOut, security on set was so tight that all her snooping around the set trying to to suss out the plot of the mega budget thriller led to nowhere. She revealed her scenes involved a priestess character.

We have recieved a few e-mails from Lachy Hulme, the Matrix actor involved in the Matrix video game, and asked him if there was anything that he would like to share about the experience, and this is what he said:

Perhaps the only thing I'd like to -- and can -- share with Matirx fans around the world is that the interactive video game is going to be a truly unique experience for anyone who chooses to play it.

It really is an essential part of "The Matrix" saga -- to the point that no fan can ever truly experience the wild world of Andy and Larry Wachowski without playing the game. It is their vision, their creation, and it explores an aspect of "The Matrix" universe through the eyes of three very unique and dynamic characters. Obviously, all of the characters and elements that have made "The Matrix" films so popular are also present, but the game takes things to a new, and at times, extreme level -- so much so that the videogame is NOT a spin-off, nor a tie-in, nor a cynical merchandising ploy to lure in the fans of the films.

Rather, it is an integral component to the saga.

SPOILER WARNING, to avoid, skip the next paragraph

As you know, I play "Sparks", the operator on The Logos -- and it has been (so far) a pretty wild ride portraying this guy. But nowhere near as wild a ride as it will be for those who end up playing this game.

Because at the end of the day, the fans can plonk down their ten bucks to see "The Matrix", but when they play the game, they will be LIVING "The Matrix".

Pretty cool info! Thanks Lachy!
Posted By:Paul Martin
Source: Specter

Si7500 Storage System Delivers Five Times the Performance of Rival Systems, Enabling ESC Entertainment Artists to Maximize Productivity

BlueArc Corporation, provider of the world's highest performance and most scalable enterprise-class network attached storage (NAS) systems, today announced that ESC Entertainment, a visual effects company behind the much-anticipated sequels to The Matrix, has chosen BlueArc's Si7500 Storage System to meet the demands of their state-of-the-art render farm. ESC relies on BlueArc to increase network performance and reduce file retrieval and rendering times for its digital effects.

At ESC Entertainment, visual effects artists move data sets to and from hundreds of clustered rendering servers. The system processes multiple data streams that are 4MB to 6MB each, requiring a tremendous amount of data throughput. To meet the performance, reliability and scalability demands of its rendering farm, ESC deployed two BlueArc Si7500 Storage Systems with over 10 terabytes of combined storage capacity, thereby increasing the performance and productivity of both artists and programmers.

BlueArc has now become ESC's high-performance network storage provider of choice, and as new projects require additional bandwidth and terabytes of additional storage, the BlueArc-ESC relationship is expected to see ongoing expansion and development.

"Delivery dates are critical in the film industry, and we are pleased that the performance and scalability of our technology and storage products are helping ensure that ESC is able to meet their deadlines," said Chuck Joseph, senior vice president of marketing, sales and service for BlueArc.