The Wachowskis: Hiding Out

The Wachowskis: Hiding Out

May 07

Defamer has an intriguing post about this Friday’s Speed Racer wide release and how the notorious reclusiveness of the Wachowskis isn’t doing them any favors at this point.

Like it matters; the Wachowskis haven’t granted an interview in the decade since The Matrix, deferring to mega-producer and de facto representative Joel Silver and their casts to flog their work publicly. Their crews sign non-disclosure agreements. The duo’s contracts entitle them to a luxury rarer than final cut — an opt-out provision shielding them from the promotion of their films. It’s Stanley Kubrick/Terrence Malick/Eric Rohmer stuff, but with one crucial exception: Their films aren’t that good.

It’s a good read, and it’s overall an interesting commentary on the state of blockbuster filmmaking today. So many of the major franchises since the dawn of the summer movie season have been midwifed wholesale by auteur-like filmmakers, and that trend continues today, across media–Whedon, Abrams, Jackson, and Raimi are the spiritual godchildren of Spielberg, Lucas, and Cameron.

Except as weird as Lucas gets, he’s never locked himself up in Skywalker Ranch and refused to speak to the media. He ain’t making time for the Podunk Gazette anymore, but he’s not above pounding the pavement to flog his product–I think we’ll be seeing a fair amount of him between now and the release of The Clone Wars in August.

Would press help the Wachowskis, though, really? With this or any film? Probably not amongst the geek crowd; I can’t speak to this except anecdotally, but it seems like they could be transsexual monkeys who never bathed, and if their flicks were quality, nerds wouldn’t care. It’s more their industry standing and whatever aura they could have scammed amongst the general public as the “visionaries behind The Matrix” that’s at stake.

I’m fascinated by what I’ve seen of Speed Racer, especially knowing the Wachowskis’ reputation for reinventing the way action films are made every time they step behind the camera. I would like very much to see it. I can’t go so far as to say I’d root against it, but the media drama junkie in me would love to see how a high-profile bomb would impact their careers and their future as filmmakers.

Would they be forced to get their hands dirty again and prove themselves? Do they have any $100 million club cred left after a major misstep like that? Or would they just hole up in a house in the Hollywood Hills, living off Matrix money and writing Frankenstein comics?