The Matrix: Interesting facts you may not have known
Feature by Jack Foley
A MOVE that feels as relevant and futuristic as it felt at the time of its release, it’s shocking that The Matrix has officially turned 20 this year!
The grand premiere of the movie happened on March 31, 1999 and it didn’t take much time for it to engrave its name in the history books as an unending resource for memes, one-liners and stoned late-night conversations in dorm rooms of colleges!
Are you aware that there’s actually a popular online slot game themed around The Matrix film. With an attractive Return to Player percentage of 95.14% this online slot game promises handsome returns, including a jackpot of 500x the stake amount. You can register with casino.com to play the Matrix slot right away!
Let’s now acquaint you with 5 interesting matrix facts that you probably didn’t know about!
The entire original budget of the movie was blown away on the first scene itself!
There is nothing denying the fact that the opening scene featuring Trinity (played by Carrie Anne Moss) kicked great ass and was nothing short of excellent. It better be because the scene cost Wachowskis, the directors their entire original budget to the tune of $ 10 million.
Eventually, it turned out to be a calculated risk that paid off nicely. The executives saw this scene and gave them $50 million more for the remaining project. And here’s how the directors eventually built a bullet-proof legacy with The Matrix.
Will Smith was to play Neo
After the movie became a huge success, Will Smith revealed that he was to play Neo but couldn’t get his head around the freaky script shared by the Wachowskis, and that he went with a more sane-sounding option of ‘Wild Wild West’ instead. If we go by his version of the events, it can be safely stated that he didn’t pick the right pill!
Although the movie was filmed in Sydney, the directors’ hearts were in Chicago all the time!
Memorable outdoor moments such as the street scene in the initial part of the film took place in the town of Sydney. However, since the Wachowskis were born and brought up in Chicago, United States, they went with the names more familiar to the US crowd, in the characters’ dialogues, for instance referring to a landline available at Wabash and Lake.
The Art of the Matrix book details all such facts and the extraordinary lengths to which Wachowskis went to ensure that the film was made.
Fight training went on for 4 gruelling months
All the Matrix’s actors underwent stringent combat training under the guidance of Yuen Woo-Ping, the well-known martial arts choreographer from Hong Kong. It was important for each one of them to be convincing in their on-screen actions. In fact, Keanu Reeves used to train up to 10 hours per day sometimes to be able to do justice to his role.
Both Keanu Reeves and Hugo Weaving played their roles despite injuries
While Keanu Reeves had undergone an upper spine surgery before his fight training and was asked to constantly wear a cervical collar throughout that time-period, Hugo Weaving, who plays agent Smith in the movie had suffered a hip injury and underwent a surgery for the same. Laurence Fishburne and Carrie Anne Moss were also carrying injuries, and it was a pretty brutal filming for everyone.