Director Zack Snyder recently admitted that his upcoming Netflix film, Rebel Moon, does not actually feature a single shot of the titular moon.
Speaking with Empire via ScreenRant, Snyder revealed, “The Rebel Moon is not the moon that they’re on. The title was conceptual, but there’s a planet named Vanna, and Vanna is the rebel moon.”
He then declared, “It’s not even in one shot of this movie!”
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According to an exposé on the film in Netflix’s Tudum the film is about “a small peaceful colony on the outskirts of the galaxy [that] is targeted by the insidious Imperium. But they won’t be facing down the forces of darkness on their own. A team of intrepid warriors will soon come down to their aid and turn the tide against the interplanetary interlopers.”
Snyder provided more details to Vanity Fair explaining that the Imperium or Mother World arrives on a planet named Veldt and quickly oppresses the local farmers and begins seizing their produce in order to supply their vast armies and navies that are operating in that part of the galaxy.
Snyder said, “They land in the village to say, ‘Listen, you guys will be our local food source while we’re tromping around this part of the galaxy. So how long till the harvest comes in?’ The villagers are pretty much stunned by the brutality, but they don’t realize what level the Mother World’s ready to go to.”
Snyder’s wife and producing partner Deborah Snyder added, “The Imperium comes down, and they want to take the women and take the children and they need more soldiers. They’re going to take their food. And [the villagers] go, ‘Look, we can bargain with them.”
A former member of the Imperium named Kora, who had been hiding out on the planet, warns the farmers that the Imperium’s occupation will not end well for them and she’s dispatched to recruit a ragtag force to set a trap for the Imperium and begin a resistance movement against them.
Snyder notes, “The advantage that they would have is, they could set a trap for the Imperium. A lot of times, if you’re fighting in a guerrilla war, you don’t know where the bad guys are going to be. But in this case, you know in nine weeks they’re going to be right there. So they could set a pretty insane trap for them. Of course, it all goes sideways. But that’s the initial plan.”
The film stars Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Bae Doona, Ray Fisher, Charlie Hunnam, Staz Nair, E. Duffy and Anthony Hopkins. It also features Cary Elwes, Corey Stoll, Jena Malone, Fra Fee, Cleopatra Coleman, Alfonso Herrera, Stuart Martin, Sky Yang, Rhian Rees and Charlotte Maggi.
The film is the first of two. The first one arrives on Netflix on December 22, 2023.
What do you make of the film not even featuring the titular planet or moon?
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