http://filmforce.ign.com/matrix/articles/458/458822p1.html Revolutions Coming Home Sooner Than We Thought? Lackluster box office & online piracy may mean more Neo for Christmas. November 11, 2003 - When is a film that grosses $85 million in its opening weekend considered a disappointment? When you're Warner Brothers and the film is Matrix Revolutions, the third and final(?) installment in the popular Matrix trilogy. While the film posted the third highest opening box office total for a Wednesday open, the studio expected the film to come in at number 1. The $85 million in box office receipts from Wednesday to Sunday fell well below expectations as did the $200 million internationally. Like most films in release today, copies of the movie appeared in various Internet groups just hours after the film opened, causing more concern for the studio. Worried that the time to make money from the franchise may be running out faster than expected, representatives for Warner Home Video contacted some of the major video retailers and rental outlets on Monday to let them know that Revolutions may be coming home a lot sooner than expected. Early January was mentioned but if the box office continues to drop at its current pace, Matrix Revolutions could hit DVD before Christmas. Adding insult to injury, a possibility was mentioned to one video dealer that the studio may try putting together a 3-movie boxed set for Christmas if Revolutions is released in time to show up in your holiday stocking. According to one video dealer that spoke to IGN FilmForce on condition of anonymity, "Warners is afraid that Revolutions won't sell very well because of the word of mouth on the movie. The only way to make the money on sell-through is to package it with the other two." The retailer went on to say that the number of requests for the film have dropped significantly since the film's opening day. The big test for the film will be how it fares in its second weekend, when it will be up against the Russell Crowe starrer, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, a film that has been getting extremely positive reviews and advance word of mouth. Representatives for Warner Home Video would neither confirm nor deny the information but a source at Warners did confirm that a meeting about the DVD release for Matrix Revolutions did occur on Monday. If the film is released early to DVD, we should be hearing an announcement within weeks. Stay tuned. -- KJB --

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