The New Yorker Profiles The Wachowskis With New Personal And Professional Details Including 'Cloud Atlas,' 'The Matrix' And 'Cobalt Neural 9'

One of my all-time favorite Comic-Con memories was walking the floor, glimpsing over to a small booth in the 4000s and seeing Larry and Andy Wachowski. The writers and directors of Bound and The Matrix were just sitting there. No line, no nothing. That's what happens when you make one of the most influential and revered films of a generation but refuse to do interviews about it. You gain a certainly level of anonymity and mystique. The kind that allows you walk around unnoticed Comic-Con, which is exactly how the Wachowskis wanted it.

Since my Comic-Con encounter, where the brothers couldn't have been nicer, Larry has become Lana and the pair have teamed up with Tom Tykwer to make Cloud Atlas, Warner Bros.' 2012 Oscar hopeful starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and others, scheduled for release October 26. The film had a long, difficult road to the big screen and is a huge risk, both personally and professionally, for the siblings. To combat that, they've finally begun to shed some of their press armor and open up about not only this film, but everything else as well.

We saw a brief video introduction to the film, another clip discussing technique and now The New Yorker has published a stunning profile on Andy and Lana. In it, we learn all about how they became filmmakers, their influences, background, Lana's gender transformation, the difficulties of financing and adapting Cloud Atlas, the success of The Matrix and even some revealing details on film they partially shot called Cobalt Neural 9. It's a must read for all film fans. Get the link after the jump.

The New Yorker piece, written by Aleksandar Hemon, is thousands of works and just printing it here would be a disservice. If you're curious about any of the topics I mentioned above, please head to The New Yorker site and read it.

One thing I will quote, though, is a bit of new info on Cobalt Neural 9, a film the Wachowskis began production on when they didn't think Cloud Atlas was going to be possible. Much was rumored about the film, with it being described as "gay Iraq war romance." Turns out that wasn't exactly accurate. Hemon was actually cast in the film, which he describes a mock documentary set eighty years in the future look back at the fall of society. Here's the excerpt from The New Yorker about Cobalt Neural 9:

I first met the Wachowskis in December, 2009, when they were in the midst of their struggle to find financing for "Cloud Atlas." Uncomfortable with being idle while they waited, they were also developing "Cobalt Neural 9," a project that had grown out of their frustration with the Bush Presidency and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Curious about how the early aughts would be perceived in the future, the Wachowskis imagined a documentary film made eight decades from now, looking back at the country's plunge into imperial self-delusion. In order to write a script for "Cobalt Neural 9," the Wachowskis were filming interviews with people, from Arianna Huffington to Cornel West, who they thought might be able to help them elucidate their concerns. I was invited to participate and was costumed to look as if I were speaking in 2090. Dressed like a Bosnian Isaac Hayes (with sparkling lights attached to my skull, a psychedelic shirt, and a New Age pendant), I ranted about the malignant idiocy of the Bush regime. Lana sat next to the camera, asking most of the questions, while Andy was somewhere beyond the lights, his voice occasionally booming from the void.

Sounds amazing and hopefully, it's something they finish once they're done promoting Cloud Atlas.

Again, please head to The New Yorker to read about the controversial and reclusive Andy and Lana Wachowski. You'll be glad you did.