Zack Snyder Clarifies Details About Rebel Moon’s Director’s Cut

Summary

• Zack Snyder’s director’s cut of Rebel Moon: Part One will be a completely different movie with a different vision for the franchise.
• Unlike many director’s cuts, Snyder’s cut is not just an extended version but a new universe within the movie.
• The director’s cut will be a fully realized, R-rated version of the movie that reflects Snyder’s original vision.

The Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire director’s cut is going to effectively be a completely different movie. Created and directed by Zack Snyder, Rebel Moon was released in select theaters on December 15, before being released on Netflix one week later. A space opera once pitched as an R-rated Star Wars movie, it was later split into two parts and made into an original property with a PG-13 rating. A director’s cut will be released at an undetermined date in the future, with rumors putting it just prior to Part Two: The Scargiver‘s release.

While many director’s cuts merely add additional footage, Snyder has a different vision in mind. In an interview with the Associated Press, Snyder explained that the R-rated cut will feature an entirely different vision for the franchise. Because he planned the director’s cut as he was working on the PG-13 cut and developing Rebel Moon‘s world, he had an entirely different outlook on the directing process than he typically does. Check out his quote below, via JoBlo:

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. 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 existed 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 really made.

We knew it would be a PG-13 movie. In my heart of hearts, I’d always wanted it to be rated R, but you realize this sort of scale and cost of a movie like this, “Well, it’s not 100% responsible to have that be the demand.” [They were] like, “What if we said do whatever you want over here? Do the PG-13 version and then go nuts [with the other cut]. We don’t care.” That was a thing I’ve never experienced before. [It will be a] really crazy experience for fans, because it’s the fully realized weirdo, heavy metal, bizzaro-land movie.

Zack Snyder’s History With Director’s Cuts

Rebel Moon received many reviews which agreed that it diverges little from Snyder’s typical style, which is what makes the existence of a director’s cut so curious. Snyder has already produced several director’s cuts, including the infamous Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which was released in 2021. The cut was four hours longer than the original version, which doubled the overall runtime, and also had an R-rating, which was a massive change from the original PG-13.

The so-called “Snyder Cut” was not his first director’s cut, however. He also produced ones for Dawn of the Dead and Watchmen, while Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice received an extended addition. Each cut adds new footage, though none manages to approach Justice League‘s level of additional length. After all, a four-hour-long movie can be difficult to manage for movie theaters, as packing more showings into each day is a way to increase box office takes. Had the so-called “Snyder Cut” been the original release, it would have been a challenge for the studio.

The Rebel Moon director’s cut is unique in that Snyder already enjoyed near-perfect control over the project. Snyder admitted that Netflix did not restrict his artistic freedom to any great degree, but still, having the power to increase the rating for the movie is a justifiable reason to have a director’s cut. Given that Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire is meant to launch a new franchise, it will be interesting to see just how different the director’s cut is, and how it influences the worldbuilding going forward.

Source: Associated Press (via JoBlo)