Top 12 Stories of 2003:

#3: The Matrix sequels fall short.

The combined box office totals for both Matrix films released this year will only be approximately $10 million more than Spider-Man's box office take.

The Matrix Reloaded will finish not first, not second, not even third, but fourth in the 2003 box office race.

The Matrix Revolutions will not even finish in the top ten in the same category (outgunned by films such as Elf and Bad Boys II). Even Chicago, which received a limited release in 2002 but a wide release in February 2003, will outpace it.

The combined domestic totals for all three Matrix films? Approximately $616 million. The forecasted domestic totals for all three Lord of the Rings films? About $1 billion. The combined domestic total for the two already-released and highly-loathed Star Wars prequels? That would be $741 million.

The following films, amongst many others, have outpaced The Matrix Revolutions at the domestic box office:

• Good Will Hunting
• Sister Act
• Look Who’s Talking
• Stuart Little
• Scooby Doo
• Big Daddy
• Dances With Wolves

Finally, consider this: The production budget alone for the two films has been estimated at $270 million, the same cost associated with the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

So why are these numbers being mentioned? Simply to prove that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, beyond any spin by WB and Matrix geeks all over the Internet, the Matrix sequels collectively laid a giant egg. No, the studio will not lose money, and will, in fact, make money on the pair of films, that is for sure. The bottom line, however, is that the ROI on these films will be well below what any self-respecting studio exec would expect from what should have been the biggest movie franchise of our generation.

So for all you die-hard geeks/optimists, you can go on completely ignoring the fact that these films bombed as much as you want to, but the truth is right there in plain sight. You just need to get unplugged. (Walid Habboub/BOP)

The Top 12 Stories of 2003: