‘Rebel Moon’ team is glad that film did not end up being a ‘Star Wars’ IP

LOS ANGELES: Director Zack Snyder, who is currently focused on releasing his upcoming sci-fi- epic film ‘Rebel Moon’, had in fact earlier intended the movie to be a part of the ‘Star Wars’ universe. However, the movie became its own thing eventually, and the team behind ‘Rebel Moon’ have said they are glad the film did not end up becoming a ‘Star Wars’ IP.

Zack Snyder had originally conceived ‘Rebel Moon’ as a ‘Seven Samurai’ inspired ‘Star Wars’ movie that he pitched to Lucasfilm shortly after Disney acquired the studio in 2012 for $4.05 billion.

The director wanted to create original characters and he pushed for an R-rated script, which ultimately led 'Rebel Moon' to become its own property outside of the ‘Star Wars’ franchise after being deemed to be too dark and melancholic.

According to 'Variety', Deborah Snyder recalled “Once, it was a ‘Star Wars’ film, and I never wanted it to be. I remember, I said to Zack, ‘I just feel like your hands are going to be tied so much in what that IP is,’ even though it kind of lived outside of it. So I was kind of happy when that fell apart, because I always felt like it was better."

“We learned so much with all our years working with the superheroes and creating those worlds, and to do something now that’s wholly original… we say it’s a science fantasy more than science fiction, and to take all those skills that Zack has been honing, and to do something in this space, just seemed really exciting," Deborah added.

Producer Eric Newman also expressed his relief, stating “I remember Zack calling me at some point, and this has got to be 15 years ago, saying, ‘I’m thinking of doing Seven Jedi, in the ‘Star Wars’ universe. And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a cool idea.’ … Then, a few years later, he calls me and goes, ‘You know, I think it could be a television show.’ I’m like, ‘Yes, let’s do this! F*** ‘Star Wars!’ Let’s do this as a TV show.'”

‘Rebel Moon’ however ended up being a two-part film after much deliberation and much like ‘Star Wars’ will be a sci-fi space opera that follows a young woman living in a peaceful colony on the outskirts of the galaxy. She’s given the task of finding warriors who can fend off an impending invasion by an evil despot.

The cast includes Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, Ray Fisher, Doona Bae, Jena Malone, Staz Nair, E. Duffy and Michiel Huisman. The film will release on Netflix in two parts, with ‘Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire’ releasing on December 22, 2023 and ‘Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver’ releasing on April 19, 2024.