SUBMITTED BY Timbo

November 5, 2003 — In an unprecedented "global assault", "The Matrix Revolutions" is basically everywhere. Let the cash roll in.

In a first-ever global theatrical debut, the movie will open Wednesday on 10,013 screens in more than 50 countries and in 43 languages, including Hungarian, Mandarin and Turkish. Theaters will begin showing the movie at precisely the same hour worldwide, beginning in Los Angeles at 6 a.m., in New York at 9 a.m., in Moscow at 5 p.m. and at 11 p.m. in Tokyo.

What's more, moviegoers won't have to wait to see, up close, the film's humans battling machines on giant screens: the movie is also being released for the first time simultaneously in Imax theaters in nine countries.

"It's showmanship," said Alan Horn, president of Warner Brothers Entertainment, which is distributing the movie. He said the global debut was the brainchild of the trilogy's producer, Joel Silver.

"We think it's theatrical, it's fun, it's exciting," Mr. Horn said. "We talk about having event movies at Warner Brothers, and this is a way to further event-ize our movies."

But there is also a practical reason for Warner Brothers to open "Revolutions" in so many theaters from the start. With a worldwide release, Mr. Horn said, the studio hopes to stave off pirates who record and distribute illegal copies of movies in countries where a film has not yet opened. (In some countries the film will be either dubbed or shown with subtitles.) And just as important, Warner Brothers wants to make as much money as it can during the movie's first few weeks to protect against a sudden falloff in attendance.

Read the rest at the link below.