Zack Snyder went all out on his R-rated cut of Netflix's Rebel Moon.
Recently, Snyder spoke with Entertainment Weekly about his upcoming sci-fi epic and just how intense his director's cut was. "I’d written the script, in a vacuum just as I would was my normal aesthetic — a very hard, very like sexy, violent, crazy, everything’s all at 11," Snyder said.
Upon completing his script, Snyder recalled his original plan to condense Rebel Moon's violence to make it more accessible to audiences. To his surprise, however, Netflix encouraged the director to stick with his "original subversive R-rated version." The streamer plans to release Snyder's R-rated cut along with the PG-13 version which will include images of strong violence and sexuality.
"I’m super proud of the PG-13 version of the movie. I really am," Snyder said. "I think it’s really fun and it’s clean and cool but again, just the sort of weirdo darkness of the R-rated version if that was sort of my original thesis for what the movie could be, that’s what we did. That’s what we made in the R-rated version."
While Netflix plans a limited theatrical run for Rebel Moon, Snyder has little interest in it because he believes the structure of the movie serves streaming better than a big screen experience. "With [Rebel Moon], 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."
Rebel Moon Was Originally Conceived as a Star Wars Spinoff
Inspired by Star Wars, the animated classic Heavy Metal and the movies of acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, Rebel Moon was initially conceived by Snyder as a Star Wars spinoff project pitched to Lucasfilm. After the project languished in development, Snyder opted to repurpose the project into a standalone story split into two movies for Netflix.
Rebel Moon stars Kingsman's Sofia Boutella as an ex-member of a space army called the Imperium who seeks redemption by recruiting warriors from all over the galaxy to battle against them. The movie co-stars Djimon Hounsou as General Titus, Ed Skrein as Admiral Atticus Noble, Ray Fisher as Darrian Bloodaxe, Charlie Hunnam as Kai, Michiel Huisman as Gunnar, Doona Bae as Nemesis, Jena Malone as Harmada, Staz Nair as Tarak, Fra Fee as Regent Balisarius and Anthony Hopkins as the voice of Jimmy.
Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire is set to premiere on Netflix on Dec. 22, 2023. The sequel Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, is set to be released on April 19, 2024.
Source: EW