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.
Source: Daily Telegraph