Everything that has a beginning has an end. By the time these words are printed, The Matrix: Revolutions will have graced the screens of cinemas worldwide - at exactly the same moment.
Apart from being an unprecedented distribution move and a savvy publicity stunt, the rationale for this co-ordinated screening is not immediately apparent. The truth is that there's a war being waged, but this fight is off-screen. The Wachowski brothers who produced the film are leading attempts to combat piracy.
With a bit of creativity and logistics management, they have sent a clear message to the film industry: if you can't destroy the system, out-manoeuvre it.
The simultaneous openings of The Matrix: Revolutions ensure cinemagoers across the globe will see the final chapter in the trilogy at the same time. This does, however, result in the film opening at odd times around the world, such as 6am in Los Angeles.
It's highly improbable that any other film could attract a large enough audience in the wee hours of the morning to make future 'zero hour' releases sufficiently profitable to become a common event. Nonetheless, someone should have tried this out a long time ago. For years, Asian audiences have had to wait weeks and months to see foreign films. Official DVDs being unavailable until some unknown date in the future, the only surefire way to catch the newest blockbusters is often a quick trip down to your friendly neighbourhood pirated goods hawker.
Hopefully, this will all change now that foreign film distributors realise our willingness to watch movies in the cinema if we're not forced to wait some insanely ridiculous length of time.
