Matrix Curse?

A string of deaths to match Poltergeist, Suzanne Locke reveals

Stars of The Matrix trilogy will be hoping that now the films are over, the curse associated with the movies is finished too.

Keanu Reeves is reported to have lit candles and performed chants every morning on the set of Matrix Revolutions to ward off evil spirits.

The Matrix has been bad news for...

Keanu Reeves - He's had a string of ill-fortune ever since signing on to play Neo.

First his sister was diagnosed with leukaemia. On Christmas Eve 2000 his girlfriend, Jennifer Syme, gave birth to a stillborn baby. They broke up after that and she was killed in a car crash a few months later. Keanu later broke his ribs and ruptured his spleen in a motorcycle accident and then broke his ankle on set.

Aaliyah - Killed in a plane crash at the age of 22, she was replaced in Reloaded as Zee by Nona Gaye.

Gloria Fisher - The spoon-bending Oracle, died of diabetes complications aged 64, after filming a small part in Reloaded.

Carrie-Anne Moss - A bruised knee left Moss on crutches for six weeks while shooting in Sydney.

Co-director Larry Wachowski - Papers salaciously claimed he was taken on as a 'sex slave' by a dominatrix while his assets have been frozen in a bitter divorce battle.

Marcus Chong - The actor who played pilot Tank in the first Matrix movie is suing makers Warner Bros and its parent company for failing to cast him in the two sequels.

Warner Bros - The Academy won't let them put the sequels up as a single contender, despite being filmed on the same 240-day shoot. So they have to split the vote or only submit one - whereas Kill Bill, being released across two Oscar years, can be nominated two years running.

SFX firms - Those working on shots for Reloaded went bust as costs rocketed.

Finally, spare a thought for Will Smith. Not in the Matrix, you say? Exactly. Originally in the running to play Neo, he ended up doing Wild Wild West. Wife Jada is the success story this time round.

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FILM CURSES

The Matrix isn't the only film said to be cursed...

Poltergeist - Four deaths occurred among the cast. Heather O'Rourke died at only 12, a victim of sudden septic shock, in 1988. Dominique Dunne, her on-screen sister, was murdered by her boyfriend in 1982. Julian Beck, who had played an evil spirit, succumbed to stomach cancer in 1985. And Will Sampson, who'd been seen as a kindly spirit, died after receiving a heart-lung transplant in 1987.

Superman - Christopher Reeve was paralysed in a 1995 horse riding accident. George Reeves of the 1950s Superman was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1959 but his death remains the subject of murder conspiracy theories. Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane in all four Superman movies, had a breakdown, was diagnosed as a manic-depressive and ended up in a wheelchair for two years after a car crash. Richard Pryor (Superman 3) set fire to himself while freebasing cocaine and was later diagnosed with MS. And Dean Cain? Nothing - have you heard of him since? That's surely a curse in itself...

The Lees - Martial arts legend Bruce Lee and his son, Brandon Lee, both died making films. In 1973, at 32, Bruce, died of a brain hemmorhage making Game of Death in Hong Kong. Brandon died nearly 20 years later, when a dummy bullet went through his abdomen and lodged in his spine while filming The Crow.