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The Wachowski brothers, Andy and Larry, are known for their groundbreaking film The Matrix and continue to create captivating films with advanced visual effects. They shared interests in comics and fantasy literature in high school and dropped out of college to work in construction while writing comics and developing The Matrix. Their directorial debut, Bound, was critically acclaimed but not commercially successful. The Matrix exceeded all expectations and became a huge hit, earning $460 million worldwide. The brothers have since released several other films and are known for their desire to stay out of the celebrity spotlight. Persistent rumors about Larry undergoing gender reassignment have been denied by those who work with them.
Andrew and Laurence (Andy and Larry) Wachowski are the filmmaking team most frequently referred to as the Wachowski brothers. The two Chicago natives, Larry born in 1965 and Andy born in 1967, are best known for the film The Matrix, which considerably broke the boundaries in computer-generated graphics, and was a 1999 sleeper hit. Together the Wachowski brothers are a collaborative writing, directing and producing team that continues to make captivating films, featuring some of the most advanced visual effects to date in cinema.
The Wachowski brothers cite their closeness as young siblings as well, and they both shared many interests in school. In high school they weren’t very well known or well liked, they belonged to the Dungeons & Dragons® crowd, and they took part in school theater projects. They expressed an early interest in reading comics, liking the serial form and also fantasy literature, especially JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings due to its multi-part form.
Both young men applied to and started college, but both dropped out and instead entered the construction field, all the while writing comics and hatching the storyline of The Matrix. The claim that the Matrix was solely the invention of the Wachowski brothers has been disputed by other writers, but these claims have never been proven. The Matrix has themes that are in some ways universal and could be traced back to Plato’s cave allegory. It is certainly true that many writers have drawn this parallel between modern work and Platonic writing.
Prior to the huge success of The Matrix, the Wachowski brothers had writing credits on the film The Assassins and also on the dark thriller Bound. The latter film, first released in 1996, was not only written by the brothers, but also directed and co-produced by them. As a directorial debut, critics appreciated the film’s twisted film noir quality and its unflinching portrayal of a love story between two women. While critically acclaimed, Bound was not a huge commercial success.
In 1999, the Wachowski brothers added their second written, directed and produced film to their film repertoire with The Matrix. The studios released the film in March, not one of the “blockbuster” months of theatrical releases. The reaction to the film exceeded all expectations of Warner Brothers Studios. The film became an instant hit, earning $460 million US Dollars (USD) worldwide and becoming the first DVD release to sell over three million copies in the United States. Two sequels, while visually interesting, are often considered inferior to the original, though both inspired even better box office returns. Common criticisms of the sequels suggest that the storylines got too muddy, too confusing, and that the acting just wasn’t that good.
In 2006, the release of V for Vendetta re-established the Wachowski brothers as two of Hollywood’s hottest writer/director/producer, and 2007 brought the release of The Invasion a reworking of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Fans of the brothers’ work eagerly awaited the 2008 film Speed Racer, a reimagining of the early 1960s cartoon. There is no doubt that the brothers’ upcoming films will continue to engage audiences and amaze viewers with fantastic special effects.
The Wachowski brothers give few interviews and are known for their desire to stay under the “Hollywood” celebrity radar. Persistent rumors suggest that Larry is planning to undergo gender reassignment. Those who work with the brothers, particularly Joel Silver who has co-produced several of their films, have repeatedly denied this rumor. Silver suggests that as fairly reclusive filmmakers, the brothers’ personal lives are a subject of speculation and in the absence of many interviews, unscrupulous writers just make things up about them.
