imperialscum said:

Let me put it like this. How many people watches Star Wars, let's say annually, and how many does that with Matrix?

I think its tough to compare The Matrix to Star Wars simply because one movie is Rated R and the other movie is Rated PG, and just by that The Matrix will never have as big an audience.

If Star Wars was rated R in 1977, then it wouldn't have reached all young kids like myself, and would have been just as popular as a huge blockbuster like Jaws, you are losing a whole demographic.

Heck, I remember when I went to see Matrix Reloaded in 2003, the Theaters were really cracking down on kids under 17. I had a bunch of highschool kids come up to me and asked me if I could buy them tickets for the movie the same way I used to stand outside liquor stores before I was 21 years old.

I will say that The Matrix totally owned The Phantom Menace in 1999 as the 'must see' movie, and that is when I started to notice a chink in the armor of the Star Wars brand. (Then Spiderman beat Attack of the Clones at the 2002 Boxoffice was the final blow to Star Wars being the #1 Franchise it was before.) The Matrix dazzled people with its special effects that year, along with a really intersting story (it wasn't some dumb Michael Bay summer movie).

What I think really hurt the Matrix brand is the same thing that hurt the Star Wars Brand: The Matrix Sequels and the Star Wars Prequels. I know friends that absolutely love the Matrix but hate the Sequels with a passion! I liked the Sequels, but most of my friends didn't even bother with Revolutions after they saw Reloaded.