Zack Snyder is finally making his Star Wars- and Kurosawa-inspired sci-fi film for Netflix
Rebel Moon is about a peaceful space colony that enlists warriors from neighboring planets to stand against a tyrannical regime. Sound familiar?
By Jolie Lash and Oliver Gettell
July 06, 2021 at 08:49 PM EDT
Zack Snyder's next movie for Netflix will be Rebel Moon, a sci-fi flick originally envisioned as a Star Wars pitch years ago and also drawing inspiration from the work of legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.
Netflix announced the project Tuesday, along with a logline: "When a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy 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."
To film fans, that description probably sounds an awful lot like Seven Samurai in space. The Kurosawa classic has previously been transposed to another genre with great success, in the form of The Magnificent Seven, and it famously inspired elements of the original Star Wars.
Zack Snyder
| CREDIT: TAYLOR HILL/FILMMAGIC
Fittingly enough, Rebel Moon originated as an idea for a Star Wars project more than a decade ago, but it fell by the wayside after Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012.
Snyder told The Hollywood Reporter that he's aiming to kickstart a full-on franchise with the movie. "My hope is that this also becomes a massive [intellectual property] and a universe that can be built out," he said.
In addition to directing, Snyder is writing Rebel Moon with Shay Hatten (with whom he penned Netflix's Army of the Dead) and Kurt Johnstad (a collaborator on 300). Snyder is looking to begin production on the film early next year.
Rebel Moon is about a peaceful space colony that enlists warriors from neighboring planets to stand against a tyrannical regime. Sound familiar?
By Jolie Lash and Oliver Gettell
July 06, 2021 at 08:49 PM EDT
Zack Snyder's next movie for Netflix will be Rebel Moon, a sci-fi flick originally envisioned as a Star Wars pitch years ago and also drawing inspiration from the work of legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.
Netflix announced the project Tuesday, along with a logline: "When a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy 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."
To film fans, that description probably sounds an awful lot like Seven Samurai in space. The Kurosawa classic has previously been transposed to another genre with great success, in the form of The Magnificent Seven, and it famously inspired elements of the original Star Wars.
Zack Snyder
| CREDIT: TAYLOR HILL/FILMMAGIC
Fittingly enough, Rebel Moon originated as an idea for a Star Wars project more than a decade ago, but it fell by the wayside after Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012.
Snyder told The Hollywood Reporter that he's aiming to kickstart a full-on franchise with the movie. "My hope is that this also becomes a massive [intellectual property] and a universe that can be built out," he said.
In addition to directing, Snyder is writing Rebel Moon with Shay Hatten (with whom he penned Netflix's Army of the Dead) and Kurt Johnstad (a collaborator on 300). Snyder is looking to begin production on the film early next year.
