A rejection from Disney doesn’t mean the end of the world.
In fact, it meant the creation of a new sci-fi universe for Zack Snyder.
Known for his distinctive aesthetic, Zack Snyder is the director behind comic book turned box office hits 300 and Batman v Superman.
The Army Of The Dead director initially pitched his space drama as a Star Wars film over a decade ago but was turned down by Disney.
He then signed an agreement with Netflix to create a new franchise entirely and Snyder says in hindsight it worked out for the better.
“We actually were able to sort of customise the worlds and everything to tell the story a little bit better rather than sort of be given whatever’s there. So I find it really great,” he tells Sky’s Backstage podcast.
Doona Bae as Nemesis, Ray Fisher as Bloodaxe, Staz Nair as Tarak, Michiel Huisman as Gunnar, Sofia Boutella as Kora, Charlie Hunnam as Kai, E Duffy as Milius and Djimon Hounsou as Titus in Rebel Moon Pic: Clay Enos/Netflix
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child Of Fire sees a farming colony on the distant moon Veldt threatened by the Motherworld – a ferocious dictatorship ruling the universe.
A mysterious orphan Kora, played by Sofia Boutella, decides to travel across the worlds to look for help.
The director admitted he always had Boutella in mind for the protagonist, unbeknownst to her.
“When I got to audition for him, I was just so stoked,” she said.
“He’s so good at what he does, he was so kind and so, so generous with his art and this person wanted me to be the lead of his new movie – I was just honoured.”
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Rebel Moon also stars Deadpool’s Ed Skrein, Game Of Thrones’ Staz Nair, veteran actor Djimon Hounsou, Michiel Huisman and newcomer E Duffy.
Skrein previously played Daario Naharis in the third series of Game Of Thrones and Ajax in Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool.
But he says his character in this film, Admiral Atticus Noble, was “infecting”.
“The shooting was longer than any other shoot I’ve ever done. We shot for 153 days. It’s like this is another entity. And so by the end of it, it was hard to molecularly divorce myself from him and get him out of my system.”
Ed Skrein and Sofia Boutella at the premiere of Rebel Moon earlier this month Pic: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix
Rebel Moon follows in the footsteps of other sci-fi franchises in creating individual languages for some of its characters.
“The entire Motherworld alphabet and numerology systems are all 100% done and clean,” Snyder said, revealing that there are three completed languages with the possibility of more to come.
Interestingly actor Staz Nair had a significant part in his character’s language.
“Zach allowed me to create Tarak’s language along with the language specialist, and I mixed my native tongue, which is Russian, with my wife’s, which is Portuguese.”
Zack Snyder on set Pic: Clay Enos/Netflix
Snyder has continued his tradition of creating two versions of his films.
The PG-13 film has a runtime of two hours and 14 minutes – the director’s cut, the R-rated version, will be an hour longer.
“Tonally more hilariously violent and crazy” is how the director describes the R-rated cut.
“I really enjoyed making a movie that has a really broad audience that anyone could see but when push comes to shove, I do enjoy a bit of the dark weirdness.”
Netflix and Snyder have flipped the order for the typical approach to comic book films.
The screenplay is the original source and in January the first comic book – a prequel to the film – will be released.
This will be followed by Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver in April 2024.
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child Of Fire is in select cinemas now and will be available on Netflix from 22 December.
Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
