Zack Snyder’s new science fiction film, Rebel Moonclosely resembles the films in the saga Star Warswhich is not surprising: it was first designed as such.
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Glowing swords, supernatural creatures, spaceships, combat scenes in a distant galaxy: everything converges on the legendary saga of George Lucas.
But when about ten years ago Zack Snyder presented his idea to the production company Lucasfilm, it was refused. The director of 300 And Watchmen then decides to create his own mythological universe.
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“When it became clear that this wasn’t going to work, my wife and production associate Deborah said to me, ‘That’s the best news you could have had,'” Zack Snyder recalls.
He then embarks on a creative process that is “exhausting and very long” but “incredibly rewarding because it gives you the opportunity to deconstruct the icons and clichés of science fiction that we are accustomed to.”
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The result could be the most daring work of a career as popular as it is controversial, with a remake of the classic Zombie by George Romero and world-famous superheroes revisited, like Superman and Batman in the films Man of Steel And Justice League.
“Zack’s New World”
The first part of Rebel Moona $160 million bet, titled Rebel Moon – Part 1: Child of Firewill be released on Netflix on December 22 and the second installment is scheduled for April.
The film follows Kora (Sofia Boutella), a mysterious stranger whose spaceship crashes at the edge of the universe. She then finds herself defending the villagers who took her in and forms an unlikely duo with a farmer.
Kora will build an army of fighters to protect them, ranging from insurgents to an arrogant mercenary.
While some characters may seem familiar, the actors insist that they do not belong to any known universe.
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“I don’t think anyone said the words Star And Wars on the set,” says Ed Skrein, who plays the evil Admiral Atticus Noble. “We never talked about it.”
For the film, Zack Snyder designed detailed personal stories for each of the characters, each planet and even the ships. Three languages, cultures and beliefs were also created for the film universe.
“From the beginning, we understood that Zack had a whole world and universe that he wanted to create and that he had been working on for decades,” said actor Michiel Huisman. “It’s Zack’s new world.”
Violence and sexuality
One of the big differences between Rebel Moon And Star Wars is the more adult tone of Zack Snyder’s film, between violence and sexuality, like the first scene which takes place in a brothel.
These themes will be even more present in another version of the film made by the director and which will be released next summer.
“Right now, in the current version, it’s more of a glimpse of danger or an exotic element,” says Zack Snyder.
To accompany the film, Netflix has already announced the release of a video game, a comic book and an animated film.
The director hopes that his universe will live for a long time, like the Star Wars. “My dream is to follow the story to the end. That’s what motivates me the most.”