Say what you want about Zack Snyder, and plenty of people do, he’s always full of big ideas. Like crafting a brand new Star Wars movie with influences taken from the samurai epics of the great Akira Kurosawa. Pretty cool idea, but one that Lucasfilm wasn’t really interested in during the early days of their acquisition by Disney. And so Snyder took his ball over to Netflix, and thus we have the original space epic, Rebel Moon.
The first full trailer debuted today at Gamescom, confirming the previously-revealed titles to be Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire, which comes out this year on December 22nd, and Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver in April 2024.
Snyder has assembled a gigantic cast fitting for a massive undertaking that looks to be the launch of a franchise. Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, Charlie Hunnam Anthony Hopkins, Staz Nair, Fra Fee, Cleopatra Coleman, Stuart Martin, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Alfonso Herrera, Cary Elwes, Rhian Rees, E. Duffy, Jena Malone, Sky Yang, Charlotte Maggi, and Corey Stoll comprise the ensemble.
Here’s the synopsis: From Zack Snyder, the filmmaker behind 300, Man of Steel, and Army of the Dead, comes REBEL MOON, an epic science-fantasy event decades in the making. When a peaceful colony on the edge of a galaxy finds itself threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling force, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a mysterious stranger living among the villagers, becomes their best hope for survival. Tasked with finding trained fighters who will unite with her in making an impossible stand against the Mother World, Kora assembles a small band of warriors — outsiders, insurgents, peasants and orphans of war from different worlds who share a common need for redemption and revenge. As the shadow of an entire Realm bears down on the unlikeliest of moons, a battle over the fate of a galaxy is waged, and in the process, a new army of heroes is formed.
While I understand a lot of the hate aimed at Snyder, it’s ambitious undertakings like this that will always have me supporting him.
Netflix is smart to also be planning a theatrical component to its release, as Rebel Moon could be huge for audiences who like their sci-fi on the big screen. Count me as one of those.