Netflix Dates Zack Snyder's 'Rebel Moon' For December Release

Netflix has officially dated the highly-anticipated sci-fi picture from visionary filmmaker Zack Snyder, titled "Rebel Moon," for a December 2023 release. Netflix revealed the dates in a sizzle reel previewing the streamer's 2023 film releases (see below).

https://youtu.be/brTcuO49G4I

The film preview also featured a number of other release date announcements and new footage for upcoming Netflix originals, including "Extraction 2" with Chris Hemsworth on June 16, "They Cloned Tyrone" with John Boyega and Jamie Foxx on July 21, and "Damsel" with Millie Bobby Brown on October 13. The sizzle reel for "Rebel Moon" did feature snippets of new footage for the upcoming sci-fi action-adventure picture.

"Rebel Moon" originally began development as a potential "Star Wars" anthology film spinoff, until Snyder opted to spin it off into its own direction as an original feature. The story follows a group of colonists living on the edge of the galaxy who recruit warriors to help them fight back against the invading forces of an intergalactic dictator. It's essentially a sci-fi take on Akira Kurosawa's classic film, "Seven Samurai."

For the upcoming sci-fi epic, Boutella portrays Kora, a young woman with a mysterious past, who seeks out the warriors from neighboring planets to help save the peaceful colony that's threatened by the armies of the tyrannical Regent Balisarius (Elwes). Together, the warriors make a stand against Regent Balisarius and his armies.

The film stars Cary Elwes ("The Princess Bride," "Saw"), Michiel Huisman, Alfonso Herrera, Sofia Boutella ("Star Trek Beyond"), Doona Bae, Ray Fisher ("Justice League"), Djimon Hounsou ("Guardians of the Galaxy," "Captain Marvel," "Amistad"), Charlie Hunnam ("Sons of Anarchy"), Ed Skrein, Cleopatra Coleman, Fra Fee, Jena Malone ("Sucker Punch," "Donnie Darko"), and Corey Stoll ("Ant-Man," "West Side Story," "House of Cards").

Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins also reportedly joined the cast last June. Hopkins will be voicing a robot character named "Jimmy" in the film. Jimmy is a sentient JC1435 mechanized battle robot and a former defender of the slain king (see below):

https://twitter.com/ZackSnyder/status/1534596419398402048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1534596419398402048%7Ctwgr%5E70dd561c77411b57e456601da8039fe599901583%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.nflxext.com%2Fffe%2Fsiteui%2Fpulse%2Fembed%2Fembed_v009.html%3Ftype%3DTWITTERid%3D4WnLckrO9GPGtHbogGIwVB.PageEmbed-4WnLckrO9GPGtHbogGIwVBurl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FZackSnyder%2Fstatus%2F1534596419398402048

When the film was first announced, Snyder told The Hollywood Reporter that the film is a tribute to his love of Kurosawa films, "Star Wars," and science fiction. He explained about "Rebel Moon," "This is me growing up as an Akira Kurosawa fan, a Star Wars fan," adding, "It’s my love of sci-fi and a giant adventure. My hope is that this also becomes a massive IP and a universe that can be built out."

"Rebel Moon" marks Snyder's second original feature for Netflix following 2021's zombie heist film "Army of the Dead." The zombie feature won the new fan-favorite Oscar at last year's Academy Award.  The film was a nice throwback considering he made his feature film debut in 2004 with the remake of "Dawn of the Dead." Snyder directs the new sci-fi epic from a script he co-wrote with Shay Hatten and Kurt Johnstad.

Snyder's "Rebel Moon" arrives on Netflix on December 22. The sci-fi feature will be exclusive to the streamer. Also, Snyder's director's cut of "Justice League" is currently streaming on HBO Max.