Stars Come Out for 'Matrix' Premiere

May 14 -- When he's not playing Morpheus, Laurence Fishburne has a much clearer answer to explain the question on moviegoers' lips: "What is the Matrix?"

At the star-studded New York City premiere of The Matrix Reloaded, Fishburne looked out at the throngs of celebrities and announced, "It's worldwide pop cultural phenomenon time!"

Fishburne was joined Tuesday night by co-stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss and Hugo Weaving, as well as Janet Jackson, Glenn Close and Chevy Chase, among hundreds of others. Even TV psychic John Edward didn't trust his otherworldly sources. He, too, wanted to see the eagerly awaited sequel that opens at 2,000 screens Thursday and will reach 8,400 screens by the weekend.

Industry watchers say the The Matrix sequel is posed to break numerous box-office records, including best single-day opening, best weekend opening and best debut of an R-rated film.

Spider-Man currently holds the box-office single-day record of $43 million and the opening-weekend record of $115 million. Hannibal holds the record for the best R-rated opening with $58 million.

Agent Smith vs. The Elves

Reloaded advances the story started in the 1999 blockbuster, which grossed more than $450 million. The machines have discovered the human stronghold of Zion deep inside the Earth's core and are tunneling there to kill the human race.

Neo (Reeves) must travel back inside the Matrix — an alternate universe created by the robots as a prison for humans. He's again aided by his spiritual teacher, Morpheus (Fishburne), and his girlfriend, Trinity (Moss).

The trio again tangle with robot enforcer Agent Smith (Weaving), as Neo adjusts to his destiny as "The One" who can liberate humanity.

Fishburne promises that all the elements of the first Matrix come together again — including the stars, the action and style of the original.

"It's obviously the Wachowski brothers' writing and direction," Fishburne said. "It's the ideas, the questions, it's all that went into the soup at is The Matrix."