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elcaballero

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

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19 hours ago, Telemachos said:

In terms of release dates, obviously I remember a ton of excitement about RELOADED -- and also excitement that REVOLUTIONS was coming out so quickly. 2003 was shaping up to be the year of The Matrix (along with being the concluding exclamation point of LOTR). I don't remember reading or hearing anything about people thinking they should delay REVOLUTIONS, even after RELOADED came out. Most people wanted REVOLUTIONS to come out even sooner, since it would (in theory) answer the cliffhanger questions and wrap up all the interesting stuff that RELOADED introduced but didn't complete. 

 

I remember that ton of excitement as well - The Matrix had been a big hit in 1999 and in the subsequent four years its legend had grown, such that there was tremendous anticipation for RELOADED. I was part of that. And then .... big disappointment, for me. 

 

So sure, that colors my perspective.

 

And yes, I understand why WB execs, looking at the big box office that RELOADED did, could believe that releasing REVOLUTIONS soon after was  a good idea.  And since we can't rerun history, there's no telling what would have happened had they waited a couple years. But IMO they didn't have their ear to the ground and I  think what happened with REVOLUTIONS was as much about the poor undercurrent of disappointment many felt with RELOADED (even as we gave it our money) as it had to do with the quality of REVOLUTIONS.

 

In my opinion, both films were about equal in quality. The difference in box office being explained by RELOADED riding the huge wave of positive anticipation built up by the MATRIX, whereas REVOLUTIONS suffered from the flat soda generated by RELOADED.

Edited by SteveJaros
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Six months does seem a bit too close. One year seems to be a good amount of time for closely timed sequels. LotR that was releasing around the same time made a killing with that schedule. And a few years down the road a more similar situation to The Matrix sequels was with Pirates 2/3. At World's End didn't do as good as Dead Man's Chest but still made plenty of money.

 

So with hindsight being 20/20 its easy to say a summer 2004 slot would have probably been better for it but only if they had planned that from the beginning. Like others have mentioned in mid-2003 the entire 2004 schedule was essentially locked in place. If you put it in May it would have been demolished by Shrek 2 and faced direct competition with Day After Tomorrow. June it would have cannibalized Prisoner of Askaban for WB's marketing, theater saturation, and audience overlap. July it would have faced Spider-Man 2 and Bourne Supremecy. 

 

I guess maybe they could have moved it into an August slot? Nothing that month would have been big enough to hurt The Matrix at the time.

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On 2/15/2017 at 7:32 AM, Tele Came Back said:

 

So what do you tell Peterson and Pitt? Every action ripples across your whole lineup. 

I would make them watch a screening of the still unreleased Reloaded. Wait for them to doze off when the Architect is talking. Use their thumb-prints to sign off on a release date swap contract with Revolutions.

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7 hours ago, a2knet said:

I would make them watch a screening of the still unreleased Reloaded. Wait for them to doze off when the Architect is talking. Use their thumb-prints to sign off on a release date swap contract with Revolutions.

 

That's one of the best parts of the whole movie! :rofl: 

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8 hours ago, a2knet said:

I would make them watch a screening of the still unreleased Reloaded. Wait for them to doze off when the Architect is talking. Use their thumb-prints to sign off on a release date swap contract with Revolutions.

 

54 minutes ago, Tele Came Back said:

 

That's one of the best parts of the whole movie! :rofl: 

 

This I agree with. The architect scene pretty much reframes the entire trilogy and sets up the big climactic fight.

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I definitely dig the Architect scene after several rewatches but for an initial unsuspecting audience it must have been a hell of a thing to suddenly get dropped into. From dim recollections, my first reaction was genuine fascination but also

 

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