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People Line Up for 'Matrix'

Aired May 15, 2003 - 14:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, on a much lighter note, we're going to Hollywood, and Hollywood stars and heavyweights are in Cannes, France for the annual film festival, but it's the new "Matrix" sequel that most of the celebrities and stars want to see. They hit the red carpet yesterday for the global premier of "The Matrix: Reloaded." With all this "Matrix" mania, Warner Brothers, part of AOL TIME Warner, CNN's parent company, is expected to cash in on this film.
CNN's Jen Rogers is live outside a cineplex in New York with more -- Jen.

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra. Expected to cash in indeed, and I can tell you that cash is changing hands quite rapidly behind us where people are buying tickets here at Lowe's Kips Fey (ph), and "Matrix" is expected to be a very big hit for Warner Brothers. People throwing out some pretty big blockbuster numbers. Some people in the industry talking about an opening weekend that actually started last night at about 10:00 p.m. with a lot of sold out shows around the country maybe clocking in about $150 million. That would be huge.

Some other people, a little bit more skeptical on this, saying it might even be tough for "The Matrix" to beat "Spider-Man's" opening weekend record of about $115 million. Why?

Well, "The Matrix" is a rated R film, so it may be a little bit tougher because on their first two opening days, Thursday and Friday, of course these are school days. These are work days for people. So maybe parents not bringing their kids here, maybe people not taking off from work. But we have actually run into a couple of people skipping out on whatever they were supposed to be doing and heading down here to get a seat at the theater.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Got to see "The Matrix" at least three, four times. I'm supposed to be studying for finals right now, really. So if my parents see this, I'm sorry but I just took a break.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROGERS: He's trying to get into medical school. He says he will be hitting the books again after he gets to see "The Matrix." Reviews for the film in the press have been a little bit mixed, and we've been talking to people as they've been coming out of the theater asking what they think of what they've seen. People saying they really like the special effects, but there have been some questions raised about the plot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, it is the reason why I see it on the big screen, but definitely "The Matrix" is, you know -- it really spooked me, the first movie, at least. This one, they've taken the story in a different way. I don't like, necessarily, where it's going, but I'll wait for the third one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROGERS: A number of people saying that no matter how good or bad this film is, it doesn't really matter to them. They're going to see it more than once, they say, and they're also going to be back for the next installment. That comes in November, "Matrix: Revolution." So, a lot of diehard fans out here, and so far people pretty excited and looking for a lot more sold out shows. We got three sold out here alone coming up this evening.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jen, I've got a quick question for you. You talk about blowing out of work, you talk about this fascination, people addicted. We're going to take you inside our control room now.

Sonya Houston (ph), who produces this hour, is an absolute -- there she is. Sonya (ph), give us a little move. You going to give us a little "Matrix" move? There you go. That's it. Jen, you are live with us because of Sonya's (ph) fascination with "The Matrix." Will you bring her a little something?

ROGERS: Oh, yes. I'll go try and find something from another fan. We have a lot of -- maybe some people wearing some of that PVC, that vinyl stuff. Maybe we can find her something.

PHILLIPS: Oh, she'd look great in vinyl. All right. Jen Rogers. Thank you so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired May 15, 2003 - 14:48   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, on a much lighter note, we're going to Hollywood, and Hollywood stars and heavyweights are in Cannes, France for the annual film festival, but it's the new "Matrix" sequel that most of the celebrities and stars want to see. They hit the red carpet yesterday for the global premier of "The Matrix: Reloaded." With all this "Matrix" mania, Warner Brothers, part of AOL TIME Warner, CNN's parent company, is expected to cash in on this film.
CNN's Jen Rogers is live outside a cineplex in New York with more -- Jen.

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra. Expected to cash in indeed, and I can tell you that cash is changing hands quite rapidly behind us where people are buying tickets here at Lowe's Kips Fey (ph), and "Matrix" is expected to be a very big hit for Warner Brothers. People throwing out some pretty big blockbuster numbers. Some people in the industry talking about an opening weekend that actually started last night at about 10:00 p.m. with a lot of sold out shows around the country maybe clocking in about $150 million. That would be huge.

Some other people, a little bit more skeptical on this, saying it might even be tough for "The Matrix" to beat "Spider-Man's" opening weekend record of about $115 million. Why?

Well, "The Matrix" is a rated R film, so it may be a little bit tougher because on their first two opening days, Thursday and Friday, of course these are school days. These are work days for people. So maybe parents not bringing their kids here, maybe people not taking off from work. But we have actually run into a couple of people skipping out on whatever they were supposed to be doing and heading down here to get a seat at the theater.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Got to see "The Matrix" at least three, four times. I'm supposed to be studying for finals right now, really. So if my parents see this, I'm sorry but I just took a break.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROGERS: He's trying to get into medical school. He says he will be hitting the books again after he gets to see "The Matrix." Reviews for the film in the press have been a little bit mixed, and we've been talking to people as they've been coming out of the theater asking what they think of what they've seen. People saying they really like the special effects, but there have been some questions raised about the plot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, it is the reason why I see it on the big screen, but definitely "The Matrix" is, you know -- it really spooked me, the first movie, at least. This one, they've taken the story in a different way. I don't like, necessarily, where it's going, but I'll wait for the third one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROGERS: A number of people saying that no matter how good or bad this film is, it doesn't really matter to them. They're going to see it more than once, they say, and they're also going to be back for the next installment. That comes in November, "Matrix: Revolution." So, a lot of diehard fans out here, and so far people pretty excited and looking for a lot more sold out shows. We got three sold out here alone coming up this evening.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jen, I've got a quick question for you. You talk about blowing out of work, you talk about this fascination, people addicted. We're going to take you inside our control room now.

Sonya Houston (ph), who produces this hour, is an absolute -- there she is. Sonya (ph), give us a little move. You going to give us a little "Matrix" move? There you go. That's it. Jen, you are live with us because of Sonya's (ph) fascination with "The Matrix." Will you bring her a little something?

ROGERS: Oh, yes. I'll go try and find something from another fan. We have a lot of -- maybe some people wearing some of that PVC, that vinyl stuff. Maybe we can find her something.

PHILLIPS: Oh, she'd look great in vinyl. All right. Jen Rogers. Thank you so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com