A few years ago, Zack Snyder was interested in making a Star Wars film, and even got as far as pitching Lucasfilm on the idea of a more mature movie set in George Lucas' space opera-fuelled galaxy. The sale of the company to Disney scuppered any forward movement, but he has since re-tooled the idea into an original film called Rebel Moon, which he'll now shoot for Netflix.
The story, written by Snyder and 300's Kurt Johnstad (and turned into script form by the director alongside Army Of The Dead's Shay Hatten) starts 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.
"This is me growing up as an Akira Kurosawa fan, a Star Wars fan," Snyder tells The Hollywood Reporter. "It’s my love of sci-fi and a giant adventure. I’ve spent the last two or three years building out this universe. 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." He and Netflix are hoping, as with Army, to launch a new idea that can spin off other works, including potential series.
With Deborah Snyder on to co-produce, the film should start shooting early next year.