According to an article in Advertising Age, major marketers are pulling back on support for the third Matrix release, Matrix Revolution, due out November 5th. Samsung, Heineken, and General Motors together put over $100 million into Matrix-related marketing around the release of Matrix Reloaded. This is seen as one factor that helped propel the movie to $770 million in worldwide box office receipts to date. The Matrix Reloaded DVD has also been selling well (see 'Matrix Reloaded Over 4 Million on Day One'), with support from Samsung and Heineken. Although publicly the companies involved were saying that timing was the main reason why they weren't continuing their support, the Ad Age article indicates that availability of footage and other problems in working with the producers may also have been factors. Whether the reduction in marketing support will affect the size of the Matrix Revolution box office, or the size of merchandise sales associated with the property, will be determined in the coming weeks.
