Zack Snyder Explains Why He Pitched an R-Rated Star Wars Movie

This weekend, Netflix subscribers will be treated to Rebel Moon: Part One: A Child of Fire, the first chapter in a big science fiction saga from Zack Snyder. The film was first concocted as Snyder's R-rated answer to the Star Wars franchise — which he actually pitched to Lucasfilm itself, prior to their acquisition by Disney in 2012. In a recent interview with The Atlantic, Snyder spoke about how that Star Wars pitch came to be, and argued that it could have been the franchise's way of acknowledging how much its original fanbase had grown.

"The Star Wars audience, they've grown up," Snyder explained. "They're adults now. And it would be cool to make movies for them... When the acquisition happened, there were discussions of, like, 'Oh, maybe we'll make your movie, like down the liiiiiiiine,'" he said. "And I was like, 'Okay, whatever.'"

When Will Rebel Moon: Part Two Be Released?

Rebel Moon: Part 2: The Scargiver will be released exclusively on Netflix on April 19, 2024. As Snyder has already teased in a recent interview with TotalFilm, A Child of Fire will end on a cliffhanger ending that sets up its sequel in a major context.

"The truth is that movie one is a set-up for movie two," Snyder teased. "The end is a crazy cliffhanger that launches you into The Scargiver."

"Tonally, they're very different movies," Snyder said of Rebel Moon's two movies. "In Part 1 we spend a lot of time in the village, having this real relationship to the place and people. So that when we actually have to fight and die for them, we care about them."

Will There Be a Rebel Moon Director's Cut?

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Snyder revealed that both film installments of Rebel Moon will have R-rated director's cuts, which will be released on Netflix at a later date. According to Snyder, elements of the grand Rebel Moon story are completely different in the longer cut of the film.

"It's a full hour longer," Snyder revealed. "It's not just slightly different or a little bit more. There are big chunks of the movie that are different. A lot more stuff is fleshed out."

"Zack is a world-builder," producer Wesley Coller explained. "He loves the layering of a world and the details of a story and the nuances of a character. His process always has him doing so much exploring what's under the hood, not just what we see on screen. Having the opportunity to take this fresh idea and build all of that out, asking this question over here and finding the answer to that over there, was the most exciting part to him." 

What Is Rebel Moon About?

In Rebel Moon: Part One: A Child of Fire, when a peaceful settlement on a moon in the furthest reaches of the universe finds itself threatened by the armies of the tyrannical Regent Balisarius, 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 Motherworld, 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 new army of heroes is formed.

"This is me growing up as an Akira Kurosawa fan, a Star Wars fan," Snyder said in a statement when the film was first announced. "It's my love of sci-fi and a giant adventure. My hope is that this also becomes a massive IP and a universe that can be built out... I've spent the last two or three years building out this universe. Every corner has to be painted in. I've been doing designs, constantly drawing and really cultivating its fertile ground to make this world fully realized."

Rebel Moon: Part One: A Child of Fire will be released exclusively on Netflix on Friday, December 22nd.