While Zack Snyder has certainly had some big success making movies directly for the big screen in the past, it seems that he very much enjoyed his experience working with Netflix. His most recent movie, Army of the Dead, dropped on the platform back in mid-May and turned out to be one of the biggest new releases of the month, not only playing online, but also getting some theatrical distribution as well. Now it seems that success is at least in part motivating a continuation of the relationship between the filmmaker and the distributor, as it has been revealed that Snyder and Netflix are going to be working together again on Rebel Moon, the director's next film.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Zack Snyder is co-writing the script with Shay Hatten and 300 collaborator Kurt Johnstad, and in an official statement to the trade the director explained that the project is a science-fiction epic that he sees as his tribute to both Akira Kurosawa and Star Wars (which was itself in part a tribute to Kurosawa). Said Snyder,
This is me growing up as an Akira Kurosawa fan, a Star Wars fan. 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.
So while it's an idea that is starting as one movie, Zack Snyder has no plans on letting it end there. Apparently he has some massive franchise aspirations with Rebel Moon – and Netflix could be set up as a great distributor for all of his ideas. After all, it's forever had a great potential as a one-stop shop for a franchise's original films, spin-off features, miniseries, full shows, and even shorts (on a related note, there is current development happening for an Army Of The Dead German-language prequel, and an animated series, both of which will be on the streaming service). If Snyder's idea winds up having enough appeal, the sky is the limit as far as creative directions that could be taken with the universe that he wants to establish.
Clearly Zack Snyder has already been putting a great amount of thought into what he wants Rebel Moon to be, and that's something that is going to cut down on pre-production time. As such, the plan is to have cameras rolling on the film in early 2022. That being said, fans will likely still have to exhibit patience for this one, as sci-fi epics mean lots of visual effects, and lots of visual effects means an extended post-production schedule. A release date hasn't been set yet, but this is one we can probably expect to arrive in 2023, assuming that everything goes smoothly for the project between now and the last change made on the final cut of the film. We'll also have to wait and see if this winds up being a film that gets a distribution model similar to Army Of The Dead, and gets a run on the big screen.
It surely won't be too long until we hear more updates about Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon, but for now you can check out what's heading to Netflix in the immediate future by check out our 2021 Netflix Release Calendar.
