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"An Outcast In A World of Hypocricy"
'Matrix' Actor Marcus Chong Sues Over Tank Role
SOURCE: Click Here.
Mon May 19, 2003 08:19 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Marcus Chong has sued the makers of "The Matrix" for allegedly reneging on a promise to recast him as a freedom fighter in the 1999 sci-fi thriller's two sequels.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, accuses Warner Bros. and parent company AOL Time Warner and the film's producers of breaching their 1998 oral agreement and a 2000 contract to revive his character, Tank, in the two sequels, and of slandering him.
Chong, 35, also accused the filmmakers of "intentionally publishing numerous false statements ... that he was a terrorist," and of conspiring to blackball him in Hollywood.
A bail receipt document posted on a fan Web site shows that Chong was arrested on Oct. 18, 2000 for allegedly making threats -- five days after his salary negotiations with the studio collapsed.
Film industry sources said the actor made repeated phone calls of a harassing nature to the filmmakers after his salary demands were not met. Tank was subsequently written out of the sequels and replaced with a character named Link.
A Warner Bros. spokesman and a spokeswoman for writer-directors Andy and Larry Wachowski declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Chong's attorney could not be reached for comment.
Released last week, "The Matrix Reloaded" enjoyed first weekend box office sales of $93.3 million -- higher than any R-rated film in U.S. history and No. 2 among all releases.
"The Matrix Reloaded" stars Keanu Reeves as a resistance fighter who battles an army of machines that seek to take control of the last human city, Zion. It will be followed in November by a third movie, "The Matrix Revolutions."
SOURCE: Click Here.
Mon May 19, 2003 08:19 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Marcus Chong has sued the makers of "The Matrix" for allegedly reneging on a promise to recast him as a freedom fighter in the 1999 sci-fi thriller's two sequels.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, accuses Warner Bros. and parent company AOL Time Warner and the film's producers of breaching their 1998 oral agreement and a 2000 contract to revive his character, Tank, in the two sequels, and of slandering him.
Chong, 35, also accused the filmmakers of "intentionally publishing numerous false statements ... that he was a terrorist," and of conspiring to blackball him in Hollywood.
A bail receipt document posted on a fan Web site shows that Chong was arrested on Oct. 18, 2000 for allegedly making threats -- five days after his salary negotiations with the studio collapsed.
Film industry sources said the actor made repeated phone calls of a harassing nature to the filmmakers after his salary demands were not met. Tank was subsequently written out of the sequels and replaced with a character named Link.
A Warner Bros. spokesman and a spokeswoman for writer-directors Andy and Larry Wachowski declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Chong's attorney could not be reached for comment.
Released last week, "The Matrix Reloaded" enjoyed first weekend box office sales of $93.3 million -- higher than any R-rated film in U.S. history and No. 2 among all releases.
"The Matrix Reloaded" stars Keanu Reeves as a resistance fighter who battles an army of machines that seek to take control of the last human city, Zion. It will be followed in November by a third movie, "The Matrix Revolutions."
