Zack Snyder is back…kind of. He’s back making movies outside of his of zombie and Snyderverse (thank god), and tackling yet another project in the fantasy genre. “Rebel Moon” is an upcoming Netflix mega-project with an already star-studded cast. Sofia Boutella will star, with an ensemble cast including Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, Jena Malone, Rupert Friend, and Stuart Martin. The film also recently added Dutch actor Michiel Huisman and Alfonso Herrera, and begins production next month.
It was announced on April 8th that beloved actor Cary Elwes and “Billions” star Corey Stoll will also be joining the cast. Those are some hefty names to add to an already heavy hitter call sheet, which makes the film all the more intriguing. If you’re going to add the Dread Pirate Roberts, my interest immediately goes from 0 to 60. Well played, Zack Snyder. Well played.
“Rebel Moon” tells the story of a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy that is threatened by the armies of a tyrannical regent named Belisarius. Desperate and ready to rebel (see what I did there) the colonists dispatch a young woman (Boutella) with a mysterious past to seek out warriors from neighboring planets to help them make a stand. Elwes is said to play the king of the galactic empire, with the rest of the cast’s roles not being revealed.
Snyder is obviously directing and co-wrote the script with “Army of the Dead” co-screenwriter Shay Hatten and Kurt Johnstad, who also co-wrote “300.” The goal is to wrap production by November, and surprising no one, it will be split into two parts and has potential for multiple spinoffs. You know, because we can’t just make ONE film; everything has to be a damn universe and Snyder is incapable of returning to the early days of tight, concise, interesting films. Looks like DC ruined Snyder as much as Snyder ruined DC.
Not everything needs to be a franchise, guys.
So while I have reservations about the franchise, two part split intention behind “Rebel Moon,” that cast and new additions make it really hard to ignore entirely. We also know that this will have that blank check Netflix money, and is propped up by the mega-streamer to be the next big thing for them. The casting has me intrigued, but we’ll have to wait and see how much slo-mo “Rebel Moon” ends up having to determine its worth.
