Even at their young age, the Wachowski brothers have already gone down in history in the movie world with their films. They love Japanimation, Manga, and Kungfu, and this is very evident in their work. The brothers are quite untalkative, but they make an extremely large impact with their films.
The three Matrix films have transformed the brothers from what some would call average film makers into immensely wealthly Hollywood directors. Since the release of the Matrix in 1999, the brothers have become more elusive, giving very few personal interviews.
They also rarely talk to the press, which is somewhat unsual for up and coming directors. All of those who work with them on their films have to sign non-disclosure agreements. There is a lot of intrigue surrounding the brothers since they really don't like to talk a whole lot about themselves.
Little is known about the brothers origins. They are from south Chicago, where they lived with their two sisters and parents, their father being a businessman and their mother being a nurse.
The Wachowski brothers graduated from Whitney Young High, a magnet school particularly known for its performing arts and science curriculum. At this time they didn't really stand out much from the crowd, though they had many acquaintances.
Andy went to Emerson college in Boston, while Larry attended Bard in New York. After a couple of years passed, both dropped out and returned home to Chicago to start a business. They also became writers at this time.
One of their scripts, called Carnivore, got the attention of Hollywood. It was basically about wealthy people being eaten by cannibals. While the script has not been made into a film as of this date, it began what would eventually become a career for the brothers. In 1995 they wrote a script called Assassins, and this was purchased by Warner Brothers.
The film would become a big budget work for Sylvester Stallone. Larry was unhappy with the film and reportedly wanted his name removed from the credits. The movie crashed and burned at the box office. At this time, they contacted Joel Silver about a science fiction work they were planning which took place inside of a computer. Joel was very interested in the Matrix script. But he had a problem with the brothers wanting to direct the film themselves. Instead of rushing into production of the Matrix, Joel Silver produced the Brothers project called Bound, and tested their directing skills.
Bound captured good reviews, and even though the brothers had passed the test, Warner was still not totally conviced of their capability. Warner Brothers got full control of casting, and when they picked Keanu Reeves, even the Wachowski's weren't sure if he was the right guy for the job. It turns out that he was, and when the Matrixed was released in 1999, it was a smash hit, grossing about 400 million dollars worldwide.
Even though there is not much that is known about the Wachowski Brothers, what we are sure of is that they are masters of science fiction cinema. It only takes one major movie to put a director on the map, and the Matrix is theirs. We can only wait and see what type of projects the Wachowski's will produce in the future. For an exclusive 1999 interview with the Wachowski brothers go to http://www.cleave.com/Sight/The_Matrix/wachowski.htm
