Hey folks, Harry here... TONS OF COOL STUFF HERE! So hop to reading... So stay through those MATRIX RELOADED credits for sure! Also, sounds like Alan's getting ambitious about these here Warner Superhero flicks... Somebody really needs to send me the TROY script! And the SUPERMAN VS BATMAN script... and everything else that Warner Brothers has that might possibly be decent! Here ya go...
Hey Harry,
I emailed you a while back re: MAY and some things the Lion's Gate folks had to say about it. I'm in a class where speakers from the film world come in and speak of their roles industry. Today was Alan Horn - President and Chief Operating Officer at Warner Bros. Great guy, lots of awesome stories but I'll skip to some of the more interesting things (which you may or may not already know) he had to say about the MATRIX movies and the SUPERMAN/BATMAN stuff...
Reloaded is debuting at Cannes this year.
He loves the films and considers them family flicks despite the R rating which he has always been pissed about. (Implied that the next two would be R as well. Something about an old school guideline that says a martial arts flick that features "a kick to the head" equals automatic R. "No one slept at my house for a week after "The Ring" and that was PG-13 - I just don't get it")
He's seen Reloaded and says the effects are "jaw-dropping...stunning...no one's ever seen anything like it"
GM donated 300 Cadalliacs for the shooting of the film - they wrecked all 300.
Neo flies in the film. Horn says it's "very dramatic" and that they'll really have to go out of their way to match it for the new Superman flick.
Matrix Revolutions is going to open at the same exact moment everywhere on the planet (So it would open at midnight in the U.S., for instance, and at noon halfway around the world). First time this has been done.
Definitely a "to be continued" ending to Reloaded. The Brothers wanted to release the films a month apart but the studio was opposed because they wanted to allow for the video gross. It turned out the argument was moot because the effects on the third still have many months to go.
A trailer for Revolutions will follow the END of the credits for Reloaded (the credits are about 8 minutes long). The Brothers insisted on this - despite studio worries that the audience won't stick around (they knew that after word got out they'd have no problems getting the audience to wait).
Matrix Reloaded will be on video by Early November.
SUPERMAN AND BATMAN.
RE: Superman vs. Batman "We will do it." He says it's "dark and mean-spirited" but really, really good. The plan is to have Superman and Batman origin stories released within the same year (starting in 2005). Each movie (I think he said there would be three of each?) will deal with the Superheroes' origins and began to establish their relationship to each other which will set up "Superman vs. Batman" to follow the backstories.
Superman and Batman find themselves at odds in "Superman v. Batman" when Bruce goes out seeking bloody vengeance on the murderer of his new bride, Jennifer. Superman opposes him, fights him to the near death - then it's discovered that the guy behind Jennifer's murder is also this big baddie in Superman's circle and they unite to fight or something sweet like that. I'm anxious to see how "dark and mean-spirited" this really is...
The second Superman movie will have Clark returning to the remnants of Krypton (yes, there are remnants).
J.J. Abrams' script for Superman: Horn was put off by the idea initially but after reading the script, liked it a lot - especially the nuances of the Clark Kent character. Also, feels it's important to get an ACTOR, a great ACTOR, to be Clark. The Clark/Superman difference "can't just be about taking the glasses off anymore." They are really being selective in trying to find someone who can pull it off because if they can't find someone worthy of following Christopher Reever "we're screwed." (Horn was a big fan of Josh Hartnett in the role)
First Batman origin story has Bruce witnessing the murder of parents, enraged and guilty he turns to crime before he becomes a crime-fighter. Builds the Batcave and mobile, hires Alfred, studies martial arts, etc.
Little bit on Brad Pitt's TROY (I'm not sure who's directing): Horn, who's read a TON of screenplays in his day (starting in the 70s when he co-founded Castlerock) says that the screenplay for TROY is "quite possibly the best screenplay (I've) ever read."
Hope some of that is new or interesting...
Courtney
