Trivia / The Matrix Reloaded

• Actor-Inspired Element: Laurence Fishburne suggested that Morpheus remove his sunglasses for the fight with the agent on board the tractor-trailer, to remind the audience of Morpheus' fight with Agent Smith in the first film (during which he wears no sunglasses), and to better express his character's vulnerability.
• Actor Leaves, Character Dies: Marcus Chong didn't return due to a falling out with The Wachowskis. As a result, Tank is said to have died in-between films and Link is now operator onboard the Nebuchadnezzar.
• Actor-Shared Background: The Merovingian has chosen to model himself as a Frenchman. His actor, Lambert Wilson, is French.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: Laurence Fishburne, Jada Pinkett and Anthony Brandon Wong all signed on to the film without having read the script.
• Banned in China: The film was originally banned in Egypt because of the film's religious themes, but later released after approval of the censorship bureau.
• Blooper:
  • There are numerous instances of parts of the set (such as lighting equipment, the scenery abruptly ending, and so on) being visible in reflective glasses during close-up shots. This is particularly egregious during the prelude to the Burly Brawl, where the huge diffuser and light source that are simulating sunlight are clearly visible in Hugo Weaving's shades for the better part of a minute, while Keanu's shades show a large black mat that Smith and Neo are standing on.
  • During Neo's fight with Seraph, the dishes constantly switch position on the tables between cuts, which is all the more noticeable when the scene specifically shows some of them being knocked off the table, but in another cut they're back.
  • The Burly Brawl replaces a lot of stunt doubles' heads with Hugo Weaving's, especially in close-up shots, but the Smiths that aren't directly in front of the camera tend to be untouched. While they're all wearing the same costume, many of them are very definitely not Hugo Weaving.
• Budget-Busting Element: The film spent $2.5 million to construct and destroy a freeway set for a car chase scene.
• California Doubling: Most of the movie was filmed in or around Sydney, but the freeway chase was filmed in Oakland, California and partially on a decommissioned air base in Alameda (at several points, you can see the skyline of San Francisco in the far distance).
• Creator Backlash: In a Team Deakins podcast, Director of Photography Bill Pope revealed that he hadn't enjoyed working on Reloaded or Revolutions, saying "there was a lot of friction and a lot of personal problems" involving the Wachowskis and WB that made the filming experience miserable.
• Development Gag: A deleted subplot from The Matrix reveals that Morpheus has previously believed five other people to be The One, all of whom died after attempting to fight the Agents. In The Matrix Reloaded, the Architect explains that there have been five previous versions of the Matrix before the current one, each with its own version of the One, meaning that Neo again has five predecessors.
• No Stunt Double: Carrie-Anne Moss did some of her own driving on the motorcycle in the highway scene.
• On-Set Injury: Carrie-Anne Moss broke her leg training for a wire stunt, Laurence Fishburne fractured an arm in another training incident and Hugo Weaving put out a disc in his neck while being pulled back on a wire. Carrie-Anne Moss also said during an interview that Matt McColm accidentally hit her face during Trinity's fight with Agent Thompson.
• The Other Marty: R&B superstar Aaliyah was initially cast as Zee, which was to have been her big acting break; tragically, she died in a plane crash in the midst of filming, and had to be replaced by Nona Gaye.
• Those Two Actors: In Bram Stoker's Dracula, Monica Bellucci played one of Dracula's brides who enslave Jonathan Harker, played by Keanu Reeves.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The Wachowskis were given the choice between making the Matrix sequels or Batman Begins.
  • Persistent but unconfirmed rumors state that Reloaded and Revolutions were originally planned as one 3-hour long film, with both being padded out when the decision was made to make two films.
  • Sean Connery was the first choice to play the Architect. He turned it down, stating he could not understand the script. In the end, it was decided this was for the better anyway, as his presence would have distracted from the film.
  • An early script draft has a different end to the Burly Brawl, with Neo attempting to fly away only for the Smiths to grab onto him and drag him down through a television supply building, before he finally escapes.
  • Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh were initially offered the role of Seraph; Li, who the role was written for, asked for an equal salary to Reeves' and didn't get it, while Yeoh had scheduling conflicts.
  • Marcus Chong was to reprise his role as Tank from the first film, but left due to a bitter falling out with the Wachowskis and the studio. As a result, Tank was unceremoniously replaced by Suspiciously Similar Substitute Link.

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