Brad Pitt and Will Smith are two of the most recognized actors in the film industry. Both participated in successful films, such as 'Fight Club', 'The Big Hustle' and 'World War Z' by Pittand 'Bad Boys', 'Independence Day' and 'Men in Black' by Smith. However, despite their great resume, both regretted rejecting a film that later won four Oscar awards in the 72nd edition of the famous event.
But that is not the only thing, since the film in question was not only awarded, but also amassed a large amount of money at the box office and received all the praise from critics, two aspects that were key to developing three more sequels like this. of successful. What movie are we talking about?
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What was the movie that Brad Pitt and Will Smith rejected?
The film in question that so much Brad Pitt as Will Smith they rejected is nothing more and nothing less than 'Matrix'a film directed by the Wachowski sisters that premiered in March 1999 and marked a before and after in science fiction cinema.
In 'Matrix' both actors were offered the role of Neo, the protagonist of the story, but, upon their rejection, the role ended up being filled by Keanu Reeveswho rose to fame with his performance.
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This film enjoyed a great reception from critics, something that can be seen on various specialized pages. One of them is IMDb, in which 'Matrix' has a score of 8.7/10; Likewise, on Rotten Tomatoes it has 83% of critics and 85% of the public, while on Metacritic it has a rating of 73.
What did Brad Pitt and Will Smith say about their rejection of 'The Matrix'?
After the great success it had 'Matrix', both actors spoke out and regretted having rejected the role. Brad Pitt said the following: “I turned down 'The Matrix'. I took the red pill. That's the only one I'm naming… They didn't offer me two or three. Just the first one. To clarify,” he kicked off during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in 2020.
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“I come from a place where, maybe. It's because of my upbringing, but if I didn't get it, then it wasn't mine. I truly believe the role was never mine. It is not mine. It was someone else's, and they went and did it. “I really think about that,” Pitt stated that, in the year the 'Matrix' was released, he released 'The fight Club'with Edward Norton.
Besides, Will Smith He probably regrets this decision more than Brad Pitt, since he rejected 'The Matrix' to film 'Wild Wild West'a film that was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and was a resounding failure both at the box office and with critics.
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“Keanu was perfect, Laurence Fishburne was perfect. So he probably would have messed up 'The Matrix'. I would have ruined it, so I did everyone a favor”said Smith in a 2019 video on his YouTube channel, which is titled 'Why did I reject the Matrix?'.
How much did 'The Matrix' gross at the box office?
'Matrix'a film that had a total duration of 2 hours and 16 minutes, had an initial budget of just 63 million dollars and Its collection amounted to more than 463 million dollars worldwide..
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For its part, the entire saga directed by the Wachowski sisters, which includes four films ('The Matrix', 'The Matrix Reloaded', 'The Matrix Revolutions' and 'The Matrix Resurrections') It had a worldwide collection of more than 1,632 million dollars.
