Zack Snyder explains Rebel Moon, his answer to Star Wars

From the moment Zack Snyder’s ambitious Netflix space opera Rebel MoonWhen the film was announced, one part of its history has garnered more attention: It began as a Star Wars presentation.

“I remember calling Zack at some point 15 years ago,” producer Eric Newman said at a splashy Hollywood Hills preview event for the film. Newman worked previously with Snyder Dawn of the Dead. “He was talking about a ‘Seven Jedi’ movie in the Star Wars universe.”

The idea of making a Star Wars movie based on Akira Kurosawa’s Seven SamuraiIt almost feels circular. That film, which has seen countless remakes and reimaginings, is now everything that was in the 1960 Western The Magnificent seven to Pixar’s A Bug’s LifeGeorge Lucas was greatly influenced by. But the pitch, which eventually made its way to Lucasfilm, was never developed for many reasons, one being Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012 and that brass’ approach to the franchise.

The theatrical Star Wars movies have largely revolved around legacy characters, but Snyder’s plan involved an entirely fresh cast, with no relationships to past Star Wars protagonists. When Lucasfilm’s plan for the sequel trilogy fell into place, Snyder’s movie disappeared from any future planning boards. It may even be a good thing.

“I never wanted it to be [a Star Wars movie], because your hands are tied to the IP,” Deborah Snyder said at the event. She’s a longtime producer of her husband’s movies. “I was happy it fell apart.”

Charley Gallay/Getty Image for Netflix

“Debbie said, ‘Thank God, you would’ve been so sad,’” Zack recalled. Snyder stewed on the story he had originally thought of in 1980 during a pitching class at film school. After Snyder’s fruitful collaboration with Netflix on the zombie movie Army of the DeadThe prequel to the film, Army of ThievesSnyder decided to transform his Star Wars story into a streamer original.

That Tuesday, far away from the picket lines outside of Netflix, reporters gathered inside the private theater of a nearly $10 million home to get a first look at the red-band trailer for Snyder’s new epic, which is meant to be a two-part movie project that will also expand into a massive video game.

It was a “universe of Rebel Moon trailer” for both parts that made it clear that Snyder is going bigger than he’s ever gone before. The four-hour edition of Justice LeagueThe difference is stark. It’s long past the time when DC was developing a galactic battle between men and gods. Snyder is attempting to create, in his own words, “a new universe.” That phrasing feels pointed, and the marketing plan feels direct: Zack Snyder wants to kickstart a post-Star Wars era for big-screen space opera.

Two key events converged in 2017 to make this project happen: Snyder’s firing from Justice League, and the fervent, vitriolic fan reaction to Rian Johnson’s risk-embracing Star Wars The Last Jedi.

Image: Netflix

After DC’s separation from Snyder, the company flailed through different philosophical approaches to its cinematic universe, alternately promising a more cohesive MCU-style single storyline and, with the success of 2019’s Joker. more standalone movies that take place in their respective universes. Star Wars movies continued to be a failure, either with the critics or fans. The time seems ripe for more movies that don’t come with the weight of all that IP — like The CreatorThe upcoming sci-fi film from Rogue One: Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards. If you look too closely, frames can be easily confused. CreatorTrailer for those who live in a galaxy, far, away.

“I hadn’t really thought about that,” Snyder said about the connection between Rebel MoonThe following are some examples of how to get started: CreatorTwo original sci-fi universes by filmmakers who have a vested interest in Star Wars. “It’s kind of what Debbie said about struggling and being hitched to IP you don’t really control. The difficulties associated with pushing a vision through that is controversial.”

Edwards, according to reports, faced an enormous amount of studio interference during the filming. Rogue OneSnyder was faced with multiple cuts. Batman v Superman Dawn of JusticeThe following are some examples of how to get started: Justice League. But Snyder’s story is more extensive and complicated, with competing stories about why and when he departed Justice LeagueThen he makes a dramatic comeback to complete his final edit.

“I can’t believe we got Justice League made,” Deborah said. “Nobody can,” Zack answered. The movie he cut ended with a vague promise that a great battle would never happen. So far, Snyder’s hopes of creating a generation-defining franchise are still unfulfilled.

It is a Rebel Moon What about that franchise? It’s almost like the lead-up has been a case of him wanting to have both his IP and film. The trailer and press images released for the film openly invoke Star Wars, weaponizing Star Wars language and iconography, while emphasizing that this story never would’ve worked in Star Wars form.

“This is a culmination of all that we’ve done with storytelling, franchise-telling, world-building,” said producer Wesley Coller, who has collaborated on Snyder’s projects all the way back to his days of shooting commercials.

Clay Enos/Netflix

“He has a way bigger universe in mind, even beyond the first two films,” Newman explained. “World creation is a really hard thing. There are a very small handful of filmmakers who could pull it off.”

“More on this movie than others, I did more drawings,” Snyder revealed, explaining that he’d produced somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 pieces of art for the franchise over the span of four or five months.

The mood of the event was often skewed in one direction. Rebel Moon is a rebuff of many things that have gone right and many things that have gone wrong in Snyder’s career. Star Wars is the holy grail of many filmmakers who grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, but with Disney taking that franchise in its own direction, Snyder is ready for something of his own.

His definitive streaming video was released in response to the need for new original content. Justice League. Now, he isn’t wholly invested in the traditional cinematic experience for Rebel Moon. “With this, I was not super interested in a theatrical release, especially with the PG-13 versus extended cuts,” Snyder said. “I feel like with the theatrical release, the way the model is, it takes some energy out of it.”

The two parts are Rebel MoonThey will get extended R-rated versions that run more than thirty minutes longer. But he didn’t have to fight anyone to get those cuts made. “My big fans would say, ‘Why are they fucking with you? Do it. [the extended cuts],’” he laughed. “In the initial conversations with Netflix, they made it a part of the plan.”

Control is the theme of Snyder’s career. “I can’t help myself,” he admitted. “I was always inspired by movies like Brazil. There’s a great history of director’s cuts. It’s like another movie to discover. There’s this other tug, rabbit holes, it’s amazing. My drawings are often used to create a more detailed story. With director’s cuts I’ve done in the past, in a vacuum, it’s how the movie would exist. It’s part of my relationship with fans.”

It’s subtextual or at least unclear, though, whether Snyder has actually had to compromise with Rebel Moon. Scott Stuber, the Netflix film chairman, balked when he heard that his original script numbered 172 pages. Snyder chose to divide the script into two parts rather than reducing it to Netflix’s preferred two-hour run time.

Clay Enos/Netflix

The way he described the design of films for an audience streaming, it was similar to Ghosted Dexter Fletcher talks about a sequence that he cut from the opening because he was afraid Apple TV Plus viewers would get bored and stop watching after just a few seconds. “When you come out of the gate in a streaming movie, you have to be careful not to be too intense or too boring,” Snyder explained. “I always was a huge advocate of having the opening of a movie come at you hard. […] I think it makes you better.”

It’s still a big question: Will this all work out? Is Zack Snyder going to bring Star Wars 2 via Netflix? During the explosion of social media and the “democratization” — a corporate-favorite word — of access to art and platforms to talk about art, viewers’ relationships with movies have fundamentally changed. There may never be another Star Wars, simply because it’s impossible to recreate such a phenomenon in today’s cinematic ecosystem.

And with the cloud of secrecy that streamers place over true viewership numbers — a point of clear and essential debate in both the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes relating to a number of issues, such as residuals — it may be impossible to tell whether Rebel MoonFinds great success. Why are Snyder and co. lowering the emphasis on a theatrical release, do you think? Unless you’re James Cameron, the history of original galactic-scale sci-fi at the box office isn’t pretty.

But for now, there is no need to worry. Rebel MoonMachine is moving full speed ahead. Reportedly the real “rebel moon” isn’t the moon in either part 1 or part 2 — it’s something that would emerge in a proposed third film, or even a project beyond that.

“If I ended up having to make a few more [Rebel Moons], I’d be fine with that,” he said. Whether he gets there will solidify the story of Snyder’s career, and could help resolve where Hollywood — and epic-scale space opera that isn’t full of droids and Wookiees — stands in this new age.

Rebel Moon Part 1 A Child of FireNetflix is set to release the film on December 22, 2018. The Scargiver Part 2.The date is April 19, 2024.