Snyder Cut Of Netflix’s Sci-Fi Epic Rebel Moon Is Happening
The Snyder Cut is bigger than all of us. Filmmaker Zack Snyder has earned a reputation for releasing lengthy director’s cuts of his films, giving his fans revisionist attempts at movies like Sucker Punch, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Watchmen, and most famously, Justice League. The Hollywood Reporter covered comments by Snyder that his upcoming sci-fi epic Rebel Moon will get the same treatment.
“The director’s cut is close to an hour of extra content, so I think it’s a legitimate extended universe version,” Zack Snyder said of Rebel Moon. “It’s just more painted-in all the way. The director’s [cut] is a settle-in deep dive, which I have notoriously done throughout my career.”
Zack Snyder is planning ahead, building in an incentive for Rebel Moon fans to revisit the movies.
Zack Snyder went on to say that the extra hour of footage he plans to cut into an extended version of Rebel Moon was planned from the start. During production, the bonus scenes were captured with the intent of appearing as a director’s cut.
Snyder’s approach is atypical. In the case of Justice League, it made sense; Zack Snyder did not get to finish his film, and the mish-mash result that was released in theaters left fans wondering what could have been. With Rebel Moon, the revised edition is being announced before anyone has even seen the initial version.
So… Why not just include the bonus scenes from the start? Zack Snyder is making Rebel Moon for Netflix. The studio mandates Snyder battled while making his DC films are no longer on him, and he clearly has studio support for the extra material.
“The director’s cut is close to an hour of extra content, so I think it’s a legitimate extended universe version, it’s just more painted-in all the way. The director’s [cut] is a settle-in deep dive, which I have notoriously done throughout my career.”
Zack Snyder on Rebel Moon’s director’s cut
It is a strange move but a fascinating one that seems to be driven purely by Snyder’s penchant for deeper second looks at movies. Zack Snyder is planning ahead, building in an incentive for Rebel Moon fans to revisit the movies. Such an exploration fills in the gaps between the story and the world and begins a whole new conversation of comparison and contrast.
Snyder’s strategy here is unusual, and film bros can argue its merit all day long. In the end, it is a creative choice that speaks to the relationship Zack Snyder has to his movies and the relationship his fans can expect to have to Rebel Moon.
Pitched as Star Wars meets Dune, Zack Snyder is bringing the world a space opera featuring sex and violence with Rebel Moon. The story is split into two parts: A Child of Fire, releasing December 22, 2023, and The Scar Giver, coming April 19, 2024.
This epic tale follows Kora, a fighter who rallies the inhabitants of a peaceful planet to fight against the army of a tyrant descending upon their world. Kingsman: The Secret Service actress Sofia Boutella stars as Kora, joined by Cleopatra Coleman, Charlie Hunnam, Cary Elwes, Anthony Hopkins, Jena Malone, Dijmon Hounsou, and more.
Pitched as Star Wars meets Dune, Zack Snyder is bringing the world a space opera featuring sex and violence with Rebel Moon.
Zack Snyder devised the story for Rebel Moon and wrote the screenplay with his past collaborators Shay Hatten (Army of the Dead) and Kurt Johnstad (300). The idea was originally pitched to Lucasfilm as a more mature tale set in the Star Wars universe but was reworked into its current form after landing at Netflix.
The two films have a combined budget of $166 million and are rated PG-13. The Snyder Cuts of the movies are anticipated to be R-rated.
The Snyder Cut era seems to be here to stay. Zack Snyder is taking a peculiar approach to filmmaking with his revisionist tactics, but fans of his work eat it up. Based on the trailer, they’ll be eating well with Rebel Moon.
