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EXTRAS NEEDED
Source: <The Matrix Online>

OPEN CALL: THE MATRIX II & III NEEDS EXTRAS!
We need only fit Afro-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Islander/Indian mixed ethnicities, aged 18 and over, for extras work on scattered dates from April to June. If you fit this description, please attend our open call casting on Sat. 2nd Marach between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Newtown Theatre, 354 King St. Newtown. For further enquiries ph. 02 8353 2262 I called the number, and like the last open casting call there was only a recorded message which outlined the details again, and mentioning that, like last time, if you were suitable for the part they'd take your photo and phone number and call you back. The costuming will be done in March and there will be blocks of 1-3 days filming in April and June. They don't need caucasians, and they only need people of strong build over 18 as they already have children and teenagers cast.

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HIDDEN BINARY ACCESS
Thanks to: "Zlinx"

"Zlinx" sent in a report how you can find some extra content on the new official Matrix Reloaded site. On the flash version of the site you can find a options tab in the right hand corner. If you click on it a small menu will appear. Next to 'html' you can find a square which will turn green when you click on it. This button will give access to the 'binary access' section. The following codes will give you access to some hidden features:

00011000
10110110
11011011

They'll probably add some new stuff once in a while so keep an eye out for updates!

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INTERVIEW LACHY HULME

Source: <Moviehole>
Thanks to: <Countingdown>

Moviehole had a short interview with the man who plays Sparks in the upcoming sequels:

>I caught up with Australian actor Lachy Hulme today and we got talking about his two current roles, the anticipated "Matrix Reloaded" and "Crocodile Hunter : Collission Course". Now while we will have to wait quite a bit longer for these movies to be released (they're still in production) Hulme shed some light on both the film's highlight, plot and characters.

"I've got a very modest role in both films (The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions), with my workload expanding marginally in the last of the trilogy. I'd like to point out, however, that the role I wanted had already been filled by that upstart Laurence Fishburne, so I had to make do with this part. I play "Sparks", the computer operator on The Logos. He's not quite "Morpheus", but he is the best damn typist in the business", he says. "What Can I say? It's the Wachowski Brother's world, and we're just living in it. Scene 41 was my favourite" he teased.

Read more <here>

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ONE YEAR OF SHOOTING

Source: <Whatisthematrix>

Shooting for THE MATRIX sequels began almost one year ago. While there was a massive amount of pre-production (which the web-site will explore in detail), principle photography began in Alameda on Monday March 26th 2001, and wrapped on Wednesday June 27th. Those sixty-six days covered shooting on three major sets, and while many might say this is long enough to shoot an entire feature, this was only the beginning for the sequels to THE MATRIX.

After a two-month break, the cameras began rolling anew in Sydney, Australia, where filming remains in full swing. Many of the people who worked on the first film here in Sydney, have returned. The same Armorers are back, as is the Costume Designer, Art Director and Production Designer. The First AD is on set once more, many of the Special Effects crew have returned, as has the Visual Effects Supervisor. Shooting schedules can be pretty tough, as many working days are often in excess of 12 hours. If you like having a life outside of the job, stay away from film.

REDPILL, the internet team behind the first MATRIX, is back as well. Involved in all aspects of the production since pre-production began, we have been capturing content virtually non-stop. No department is being left out, as we talk to everyone, on both continents, covering the Stunt crews, the Special Effects crews, Costumers, Set Designers, Props Makers, Pre-visualization Artists, Model makers, actors, stand-ins, and more... and we’re still talking.

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OFFICIAL SEQUEL SITE ONLINE

A few news topics back I mentioned the hint to the official sequel site on whatisthematrix.com (click <here> to read that topic). Unfortunately the link wasn't active yet, but now it is! The site is still not finished and a bit rough but it's great to take a look.

The contents:

- Interviews with Don Davis (Composer), James McTeigue (1st Assistant Director), Steve Skroce (Storyboard Artist), George Hull (Concept Illustrator), Owen Patterson (Production Designer) and Peter Robb-King (Department of Head and Make-Up).

- Photo's from the set (only 9 images and none of them show very much, but it's a start...)

- Quicktime VR Section. In this section there are three quicktime files in which you can take a 360 degree look in the Nebuchadnezzar.

- Fox Australia commentary

- Desktop section (5 wallpapers of the Neb interior available)

You can visit it <here>



Let me know what you think of on the forum by clicking on the 'discuss this' button below.

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FEBRUARY 14TH, THE EXPLOSION

Sources: <Corona>, <The Matrix Online>

>>> This is a letter residents near the Sydney White Bay Power Station received informing them on the explosion:

Dear Resident

We are currently in production for the making of Matrix 2 & 3 starring Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss. We will be filming a sequence at the rear of the White Bay Power Station this Thursday evening (14th February/Valentine's Day), involving an explosion that is timed to go off at 11:25pm. The explosion will be loud but will last approximately 4 seconds only and will occur once only.

The timing is set for as early as we could hold city bound traffic on the Anzac Bridge, and as late as local residents could reasonably bear with due warning. Either way we do apologize for the possible interruption to your evening.

If the weather is bad, we would then reschedule for Friday night the 15th of February.

All relevant authorities have been notified of our activity.

Signed, Peter Lawless, Location Manager

>>> According to 'Nerje' of 'The Matrix Online' this is what she saw:

BANG! There goes White Bay Power Station -- I was there. Again!
Hey all!

An hour ago, I was overlooking the set-up they had constructed at the White Bay Power Station. We had found an empty space between two buildings that had a direct view of the setup, and we could see quite a lot.

The crew had it set up like a tennis stadium, four high wooden-backed walls (I couldn't see the inside) with many bright stadium-style lights shining in. There were also lights inside the walls, which I couldn't see but the light itself was shining out the top. What I could see of the inside walls was all white with a few sections of green in the middle at the bottom. Two of the walls, closest to the Anzac Bridge, were double the height, and had large freight containers backing them up. A container-sized room was behind one also, we saw people go into this room and when they came out the lights on a platform above them came on quite bright, so I'm assuming it was a control room. Everyone who was walking anywhere near the complex was behind clear hand-held blast shields so we guessed there wasn't anybody inside the walls for safety reasons. There were security type people with flashing lights that looked like they were going to try and land a light aircraft inside the Power Station.

Suddenly the lights intensified and the flashy light men flashed their lights even faster.

The explosion itself reminded me of driving very fast over a short, loose-planked wooden bridge. The bulk of the fire was coming from the corner with high walls, which leads me to believe that maybe in the other corner they had the cameras to film it. The fire contained a lot of debris in it, but nothing that could show what exactly was being blown up, and a lot of smoke was generated. City-bound traffic on the bridge had been stopped so that was empty, and nobody could see anything for there, however from our spot a lot could be seen. Directly after it happened a man came by and said "That was it. Thankyou all for coming" then hopped on his radio and said that they "had a pedestrian problem". When we left, a fire-truck came past, and was slowed down by said pedestrian problem.

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TOO MANY SUCCESSFULL FILMS

Source: <Cinescape>, Premiere Magazine

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’s (a subsidiary of AOL/TimeWarner) 'The Lord of the Rings: The 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’s 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’s hope next summer is as far as it slips.

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ACCESS HOLLYWOOD INTERVIEWS

Source: <Access Hollywood>

The report from Access Hollywood is available <here> in Windows Media file. It's small and bad quality, but hey, you see the set alright!

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.

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PRODUCERS ON ANIMATRIX EPISODES

Source: <Cinescape>, Wizard Magazine

Although it’s still unclear what exactly 'The Matrix' fans can expect with the premiere of the prequel series of animated shorts titled 'AniMatrix', more details about the mysterious project are coming to light.

In an interview with Wizard magazine, Matrix producer Joel Silver revealed Matrix creators Andy and Larry Wachowski will write half of the 10 shorts, with Japanese anime masters including Yoshiaki Jawajiri ('Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust') and Mahiro Maeda (Blue Submarine No. 6) whose short will be animated by the same house that did 'Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within'. What’s more, the shorts now have a vague release window: this fall. They’re expected to hit the web first then be collected on a DVD at some later date.

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HINT TO OFFICIAL SEQUEL SITE

Source: <The Matrix Online>, by Zlinx

More indications that WB is definitely working on the official Matrix Reloaded website:

If you explore the main page of the Official Matrix Web Site, you´ll find at the right side of the ad of the book of Matrix, a broken and invisible link to a page called "index_main_sequel.html"... I think that it´s a significant name. The link is a little invisible square... If you put the mouse over, it will work like a normal link, but it´s an empty or transparent image. You can see it if you try to select text from the botton to the top of the page... You´ll see a little square remarked near the ad as I said...

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SQUARE SHUTDOWN

Source: <Variety>

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, laying off 125 employees from Hawaii, other parts of the U.S., Canada and Japan.
They were looking for a major U.S. studio to partner with, but ran out of time because of the Sept. 11 attacks and Holidays, according to the Hawaii studio president, Jun Aida. Jun also said that 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. It will be completed before closing.

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BOXER ACTS OUT OF BOREDOM

Source: <The Daily Telegraph>

Boxer Roy Jones Jr, who soon will be boxing against Glen Kelly to defend his light heavyweight title, explains why he likes acting in the Matrix Reloaded:

Jones says his second career as a singer and movie actor helps relieve the boredom he feels because no-one can touch him in the boxing ring.
"I have to reach down and find other things to push me," he said. "I can't hardly push myself to do it anymore. I ain't as hungry as I used to be then. I had a point to prove then. Now I'm just trying to maintain. "If it wasn't for all the performances and things, I don't think I would have trained as hard for this fight as I did."

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