Rebel Moon producer told Zack Snyder “f*ck Star Wars”

Rebel Moon was originally pitched as an original movie in the galaxy far, far away, but as a producer told Zack Snyder: “F*ck Star Wars.”

Snyder has been open about Rebel Moon’s influences, even describing it as “Seven Samurai in space.” After Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012 – and coming before the filmmaker’s most polarizing DC movie with Batman v Superman – he pitched a project to the studio with all-new characters.

Unfortunately, after some humming, hawing, and disagreements about Snyder’s vision, it was never given the green light – but after the success of Army of the Dead and Army of Thieves, Netflix gave him the keys to the cosmic castle and made Rebel Moon possible.

Who knows what would have happened if Snyder had been given his own Star Wars movie, but one producer doesn’t really care – in his words, “f*ck” the franchise.

Rebel Moon producer was glad Zack Snyder’s Star Wars movie didn’t happen

At a recent Q&A, producer Eric Newman spoke about the early stages of Rebel Moon’s development. “I remember [Zack Snyder] calling me at some point, and this has got to be 15 years ago, saying, ‘I’m thinking of doing Seven Jedi, in the Star Wars universe.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a cool idea’,” he said, as per Slash Film.

“Then, a few years later, he calls me and goes, ‘You know, I think it could be a television show.’ I’m like, ‘Yes, let’s do this! F*ck Star Wars! Let’s do this as a TV show.’

“And one of the movies that we talked a lot about way back when, from the beginning, I think we probably bonded over it, was Heavy Metal, which I know most of you know. It was an R-rated science fantasy thing that kind of blew our minds, and you’re going to see that there are a lot of influences, and a lot of that has made its way into this film.”

Deborah Snyder, the director’s producing partner and wife, revealed she “never wanted it to be” a Star Wars movie. “I just feel like your hands are going to be tied so much in what that IP is,” she told him.

“So I was kind of happy when that fell apart, because I always felt like it was better. We learned so much with all our years working with the superheroes and creating those worlds, and to do something now that’s wholly original — we got to do a little bit of that in the world of zombies, and with Las Vegas, but to do something that is fantastical, we say it’s a science fantasy more than science fiction, and to take all those skills that Zack has been honing, and to do something in this space, just seemed really exciting.”

Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire will hit Netflix on December 22, 2024. Check out our other coverage here.