Zack Snyder Says ‘Rebel Moon’ Director’s Cut Is “Almost Like A Different Movie”

Movie fans are obsessed with director’s cuts now, and a big part of it has to do with Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which those same fans rallied for years to finally see. It’s inconceivable now that Snyder would ever get away with not having an extended cut, and so we know there will be one for Rebel Moon, an R-rated version, that fans can look forward to.

In a conversation with AP, Snyder talked about his director’s cut of Rebel Moon, and says it’s not like an extended version at all, but like an entirely different movie…

“It’s not an ‘extended cut’ of this movie,” said Snyder. “It’s almost like a different movie. It’s almost a different universe that [the R-rated cut] lives in than this movie.”

Snyder clarified the reason is that Netflix didn’t make the demands on him with Rebel Moon that other studios made for his other movies…

“The reason for that is because it’s such a philosophical thing to shoot a director’s cut of a movie before you finish this version,” explained Snyder. “All of my director’s cuts exist as a response to the things that were demanded of me to take out of the theatrical version, right? With [‘Rebel Moon’], that demand was never made. We knew this would be a PG-13 movie. In my heart of hearts, I always wanted it to be rated R, but you realize this sort of scale and cost of a movie and say, ‘Well, it’s not 100% responsible to have that demand.’”

These are some bold promises Snyder is putting out there. The original cut of Rebel Moon opened in theaters last week and hits Netflix in a couple of days, and it’s already getting hammered by critics. If fans feel the same way, will the R-rated cut be different enough that it changes minds? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.