Zack Snyder basically making a Star Wars movie for Netflix

Coming off his very successful George Romero homage Army of the Dead, director Zack Snyder is returning to Netflix for a new movie, this one an homage to Star Wars: Rebel Moon.

Well, whether you think it’s an “homage” or a “ripoff” may depend on what you think of Snyder. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the story of Rebel Moon “is set in motion when a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy is threatened by the armies of a tyrannical regent named Balisarius. Desperate people dispatch a young woman with a mysterious past to seek out warriors from neighboring planets to help them make a stand.”

It does sound pretty familiar; Rebel Moon wouldn’t even be a bad alternate title for Star Wars. And Snyder openly acknowledges the influence. “This is me growing up as an Akira Kurosawa fan, a Star Wars fan,” he said. “It’s my love of sci-fi and a giant adventure.”

Notably, the original Star Wars movie was also inspired by Akira Kurosawa, specifically his 1958 film The Hidden Fortress. And just in cast the connection wasn’t perfectly clear, THR reports that Rebel Moon began life as a pitch for a new Star Wars movie that never went anywhere. Apparently it was going to be a “more mature” take on the Star Wars universe, and by “mature” I assume Snyder means a ton of slow mo and men with biceps as big as their heads.

In any case, that means Snyder has had Rebel Moon in his head for a while. “I’ve spent the last two or three years building out this universe,” he said. “Every corner has to be painted in. I’ve been doing designs, constantly drawing and really cultivating its fertile ground to make this world fully realized.”

Zack Snyder’s is making a Star Wars homage/ripoff

And then there’s the coup de grâce: “My hope is that this also becomes a massive IP and a universe that can be built out.” Because directors aren’t allowed to make movies anymore unless they become franchises. There are already multiple Army of the Dead spinoffs planned, for instance.

Wouldn’t it be weird if Rebel Moon became a big hit and spawned a franchise to rival Star Wars? Or is the galaxy only big enough for one franchise about rag-tag group of sci-fi outcasts fighting an interplanetary empire?

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