Zack Snyder Describes REBEL MOON as "THE DIRTY DOZEN and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN Set in Space"
Zack Snyder has big plans for this Rebel Moon sci-fi franchise that he’s building and it all launches with the first of two films, Rebel Moon: A Child of Fire followed by Rebel Moon: The Scargiver. The filmmaker continues to talk about these upcoming movies and what we can expect, and in a recent interview with GamesRadar, Snyder compared Rebel Moon to two classic World War II movies.
The director said that "it was like a cross between The Dirty Dozen and The Magnificent Seven set in space.” He added: “Part of the conversation was: ‘Why would Hollywood say no to your idea?’ And no one could think of a reason. It always stuck in my mind.”
It really is a good idea and one that I think will be a lot of fun to watch. Snyder previously revealed that the whole concept for Rebel Moon started off as a pitch that he came up with way back when he was in college as a film student at the Art Center College of Design back in 1989.
The whole idea was inspired by Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. That inspiration is easy to see in the plot of the film. Another inspiration included Jimmy T. Murakami's 1980 sci-fi film Battle Beyond the Stars.
That first initial pitch to his college professor stuck with him throughout his entire career and now that vision is finally being realized. He said:
"It started, I think, in college. I had said something to my professor about like, 'What about "Dirty Dozen" in space? Or an ensemble movie like "Seven Samurai" in space? And he was like, 'That's a pretty good pitch. What about it?' Because it was one of those classes where you were supposed to pitch a movie. And then I was like, 'Oh, I'd do it, that is cool.' Then we did try and sell it as a video game and as a movie at Warner Bros. a couple times."
In the story, a group of ragtag rebels rise up to fight against a giant, evil Empire. It’s set in a “peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy that finds itself threatened by the armies of the tyrannical Regent Balisarius. They dispatch a young woman with a mysterious past to seek out warriors from neighboring planets to help them take a stand against the Tyrant.”
Snyder is pretty excited about Rebel Moon and it seems like Netflix is as well. It will be interesting to see how successful it will be and if Snyder will be given the opportunity to continue to expand and build on it.
This is a two-part film and each part will come with an R-rated edition that fans can watch as well. The movie stars Charlie Hunnam, Bae Doona, Djimon Hounsou, Ray Fisher, Jena Malone, Ed Skrein, Stuart Martin, Cary Elwes, Corey Stoll, Michiel Huisman, Anthony Hopkins, and Alfonso Herrera.
The first of the two Rebel Moon films will be released on Netflix on December 22nd.