Zack Snyder’s Netflix Epic ‘Rebel Moon’ Revealed in Behind-the-Scenes Featurette (Video)
Ten years to the weekend of the release of “Man of Steel,” and months after even Zack Snyder himself finally bid a fond farewell to the so-called SnyderVerse, Netflix is sharing a behind-the-scenes look at Snyder’s latest fantasy epic. “Rebel Moon,” which will (as of this time) be a two-part film that will be offered in a PG-13 version and an R-rated cut, takes significant inspiration from one of Snyder’s favorite films, “The Seven Samurai.”
The logline reads “In a universe controlled by the corrupt government of the Mother World, the moon of Veldt is threatened by the forces of the Imperium, the army of the Mother World controlled by Regent Balisarius. Kora, a former member of the Imperium who seeks redemption for her past in the leadership of the oppressive government, tasks herself to recruit warriors from across the galaxy to make a stand against the Mother World’s forces before they return to the planet.”
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“Rebel Moon,” due on Netflix this Christmas following a limited theatrical run (“Army of the Dead” got a week in 600 Cinemark theaters prior to its streaming debut), stars Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam, Michiel Huisman, Djimon Hounsou, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, Cleopatra Coleman, Jena Malone, Fra Fee, Ed Skrein, and Anthony Hopkins (presumingly having a grand old time as he does when he pivots to pure pulp fiction like “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” “The Mask of Zorro” or even “Transformers: The Last Knight”).
Anyone who has seen Zack Snyder’s “Justice League” knows that the Akira Kurosawa epic is among the filmmaker’s personal favorites along with John Boorman’s “Excalibur.” That 1981 sword-and-sorcery flick was a lightning-paced attempt to mold stereotypically kid-friendly IP into an R-rated, adult-skewing and deconstructive anti-myth, which might remind you of a certain Henry Cavill/Ben Affleck superhero movie that came out seven years ago.
“The Seven Samurai” has been remade or reimagined several times, including “The Magnificent Seven” (1960), “The Magnificent Seven” (2016) and Pixar’s “A Bug’s Life.” There was a very brief moment in 2013 where Snyder was briefly linked to a stand-alone “Star Wars” movie described as “Seven Samurai with lightsabers,” and while the project never materialized, the kernel of an idea survived for a decade.
If we recall that “Star Wars” only came about because George Lucas couldn’t get the rights to a straight-up “Flash Gordon” movie, there is irony in Snyder turning a project that once would have been a “Star Wars Story” into an original sci-fi epic that may become a franchise unto itself.
Whether or not this becomes the multimedia franchise Netflix is hoping for, with tie-in graphic novels, animated shorts and RPG games reportedly in development, it’s nice that Snyder is getting to play in the fantasy realms without the side effects that often come with meddling with established IP.
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