Zack Snyder is gearing himself up for another successful franchise, as part of his collaboration with Netflix. He already has the on-going Army of the Dead saga, which has several spin-offs on the way. Then there’s his upcoming original science fiction movie Rebel Moon, which hasn’t even finished filming yet. Despite this, Netflix has already greenlit Rebel Moon 2.
Rebel Moon Part 2 will reportedly spend $83 million in the state of California, according to a recent report by Deadline. This probably means that this is only a portion of the total budget. The first Rebel Moon has a starry cast including Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam, Michiel Huisman, Ed Skrein, Ray Fisher, Cary Elwes, Jena Malone, Djimon Hounsou, Corey Stoll, and Bae Doona.
The plot centres around a young woman named Kora (Boutella) seeking out warriors from other planets to fight the tyrannical armies attacking her peaceful colony. Skrein plays the main villain – Regent Balisarius and Bae Doona plays an unnamed villain. Djimon Hounsou plays General Titus, and DCEU star Ray Fisher plays resistance fighter Blood Axe.
Filming of Rebel Moon began on April 19, 2022 but is expected to last until November. Snyder has big plans for it, and hopes it “becomes a massive IP” and a “universe that he can build out.” Therefore, the fact that Netflix already have plans for the sequel isn’t all that surprising.
Snyder has also spoken of the epic scale; “The beginning of Man of Steel has some pretty big science fiction elements in it. That’s kind of what we’re doing in Rebel Moon. But on the biggest steroids that I can give it. And that’s frankly, what I’m really interested with this movie is creating a romantic sci-fi film on a scale that is just frankly as big as you can make a movie, and that’s the thing that really makes me excited.”
Rebel Moon was initially pitched as a story that would have fitted into the Star Wars universe, but that did not come to be. It’s actually more exciting that it’s original and won’t have to shoe-horn legacy characters and planets in. Check out our guide to the best science fiction movies.