You can count on Zack Snyder to deliver epic storytelling, even if runtimes often limit him. That’s why his relationship with Netflix was crucial for the filmmaker, wanting to ensure he could deliver on all fronts.
Look at his second massive project with the streamer, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire. Snyder has the current PG-13-rated cut but was also allowed to craft an extended R-rated Director’s Cut of Rebel Moon.
Snyder tells the outlet, “It’s not an ‘extended cut’ of this movie. It’s almost like a different movie. It’s almost a different universe that [the R-rated cut] lives in than this movie.”
He adds, “The reason for that is because it’s such a philosophical thing to shoot a director’s cut of a movie before you finish this version. All of my director’s cuts exist as a response to the things that were demanded of me to take out of the theatrical version, right? With [Rebel Moon], that demand was never made. We knew this would be a PG-13 movie. In my heart of hearts, I always wanted it to be rated R, but you realize this sort of scale and cost of a movie and say, ‘Well, it’s not 100% responsible to have that demand.'”
SEE ALSO: Read our written review of Rebel Moon here
He shares that this didn’t just stem from him but something the streamer offered. Snyder notes, “I’m a good partner, in that sense. It was Netflix’s idea, they’re like, ‘What if we said do whatever you want over here? Do the PG-13 version and then go nuts [on the other cut]. We don’t care.’ That was a thing I’ve never experienced before. That’s when the dimensional rift happened [between the two versions] when that was said out loud.”
After crash landing on a moon in the furthest reaches of the universe, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a stranger with a mysterious past, begins a new life among a peaceful settlement of farmers. But she soon becomes their only hope for survival when the tyrannical Regent Balisarius (Fra Fee) and his cruel emissary, Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein), discover the farmers have unwittingly sold their crops to the Bloodaxes (Cleopatra Coleman and Ray Fisher) – leaders of a fierce group of insurgents hunted by the Motherworld.
Tasked with finding fighters who would risk their lives to defend the people of Veldt, Kora and Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), a tenderhearted farmer naive in the realities of war, journey to different worlds in search of the Bloodaxes, and assemble a small band of warriors who share a common need for redemption along the way: Kai (Charlie Hunnam), a pilot and gun for hire; General Titus (Djimon Hounsou), a legendary commander; Nemesis (Doona Bae), a master swordswoman; Tarak (Staz Nair), a captive with a regal past; and Milius (E. Duffy), a resistance fighter. Back on Veldt, Jimmy (voiced by Anthony Hopkins), an ancient mechanized protector hiding in the wings, awakens with a new purpose. But the newly formed revolutionaries must learn to trust each other and fight as one before the armies of the Motherworld come to destroy them all.
The cast of Rebel Moon includes Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, Anthony Hopkins, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, Stuart Martin, Cary Elwes, Corey Stoll, Michiel Huisman, Alfonso Herrera, Ed Skrein, Cleopatra Coleman, Fra Fee, Rhian Rees, Jena Malone, E. Duffy, Charlotte Maggi, Sky Yang, and Staz Nair.
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire theatrical cut is in cinemas and on Netflix now.
Originally published December 22, 2023. Updated December 27, 2023.
