NEW YORK -- For only the second time in his career after Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Keanu Reeves is preparing to do a movie sequel. Two of them, simultaneously.

"I'm looking forward to playing the part again," Reeves says of reprising his role in The Matrix in two sequels, which will both begin filming in November and continue shooting until the end of 2001.

"I had a very special time to make that picture," Reeves says of the original, which became a surprise megahit. "I had no expectation. I really didn't know how it was going to be received. When I saw it, it was better than the film I thought I had made."

As for the sequels, Reeves is over the moon about the possibilities. "It's an extraordinary circumstance. The films have an extraordinary opportunity and extraordinary ambitions."

Reeves will commit four months to training, and then 13 months for shooting. Scenes for both sequels will be shot at one time on specific locations that figure in both stories. With a year of post-production necessary, fans won't see the first of the sequels until late in 2002, Reeves says.


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