Press Release
The Matrix Reloaded starring CTS: a blockbuster star of the silver screen
The Cadillac CTS is familiar to many as the star of a spectacular car chase in Warner Bros' The Matrix Reloaded, a true Hollywood blockbuster. The film is the second installment of a trilogy that began with The Matrix, the 1999 release that revolutionized the science-fiction/action film genre with groundbreaking special effects and innovative storytelling. The Matrix also was the first DVD to sell a million units and has since become the top-selling DVD of all time.“Cadillac has a long, rich history of interaction with American pop culture in film, television and music, and this role in The Matrix Reloaded, for us, is another tangible symbol of Cadillac's product renaissance,� said Mark LaNeve, Cadillac general manager at the time. “Even though Cadillac has appeared in more than 100 films over the past 100 years, this marked the first time Cadillac strategically invested and leveraged its products in a major film.�
“We selected Cadillac to play a major role in The Matrix Reloaded because we knew the CTS could handle our rigorous production demands, as well as fit seamlessly into the innovative, hyper-stylized world of the Matrix,� said Joel Silver, producer of The Matrix trilogy.
The Cadillac CTS appeared in The Matrix Reloaded in one of the most elaborate chase sequences ever filmed. After spending months searching for the perfect highway location, filmmakers were unable to find an existing freeway that met the necessary production requirements, so they built their own mile-and-a-half-long freeway - complete with a 19-foot high wall and two overpasses - on a runway at the Alameda Naval Base in California. Cadillac turned over more than 24 vehicles to the studios for the chase. The sequence runs approximately 15 minutes but offers little insight into how Cadillac created two-dozen vehicles that didn't yet exist. The story melds talent, hard work and impeccable timing, not least because when filming started, the CTS was still a year away from production!
The story began in late 2000, when GM learned Warner Bros. Pictures was seeking vehicles for The Matrix Reloaded. Cadillac’s corporate marketing team instantly realized this was an ideal opportunity to show the car to young, affluent audiences, who are difficult to reach with conventional media and might not have considered a Cadillac in the past.
The CTS team pulled five vehicles from the prototype run and built them to exact specifications. They also secured half a dozen vehicles from older prototype models that, as part of the normal development process, were scheduled to be crushed. Some were whole vehicles, other mere shells, missing windows and interior parts such as seats or instruments panel, doors and trim.
The team emptied their engineering garage to secure spare CTS parts, pulling components out of recycling bins to be recovered and reconfigured. They spent the next 10 weeks or so reconfiguring the CTS to meet the filmmakers' specs. The hero vehicles needed to be in perfect condition for filming, but the others didn't need to be as pristine because only small portions would be filmed and the exteriors would be crashed almost immediately after filming began.
The end result was a stunning action sequence in a spectacular movie, as Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss, as freedom fighters Neo, Morpheus and Trinity, continued to lead the revolt against the Machine Army, unleashing their arsenal of extraordinary skills and weaponry against repression and exploitation in the last surviving city on Earth. Not surprisingly both the movie and the Cadillac CTS have become icons of the new Milllennium.
