Zack Snyder isn’t done with Rebel Moon. Not by a long shot. Despite Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire sitting at a painful 22% on Rotten Tomatoes and Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver crashing even harder at 16%, Snyder still believes his Star Wars-inspired Netflix saga has legs. Or, at least, Netflix believes it does, because the Man of Steel director is already teasing Rebel Moon – Part Three.
Speaking to Variety, Snyder admitted he’s been busy with something else entirely: an upcoming Netflix LAPD SWAT movie. “I got sidetracked into this — not sidetracked, it’s all uptown problems, as they say — for Netflix, I’m working on an LAPD SWAT movie,” Snyder said. “So I was like, OK, well, I’m gonna just sort of let that Rebel Moon world boil for a minute, and I’m gonna go do this. And frankly, it was a very exhausting, long process doing the two movies together. So it was nice to have a bit of a break from it. I love it like crazy, but it’s nice to have a bit of a break. So yeah, we’ll see after I finish this, when I come back, where we are with everything.”
That doesn’t sound like a man walking away from the franchise. It sounds like a guy catching his breath before diving back in. And if you believe Snyder, he’s not just planning a third film. He’s planning an entire cinematic empire. He’s been upfront about wanting Rebel Moon to become “a massive IP and a universe that can be built out.” Back in April 2024, co-writer Kurt Johnstad even confirmed that the current six-film plan is already mapped out, with each “original installment” split into two parts. On top of that, Snyder has been developing video games, comic books, novels, and even TV spin-offs tied to the franchise.
The funny part is that not long ago, there were reports that Netflix had quietly killed the franchise. Clearly, Snyder didn’t get that memo. At all. He even compared viewership numbers for Rebel Moon to the Barbie juggernaut, which made $1.4 billion at the box office, at one point. Snyder believes more people streamed Netflix’s Rebel Moon – Part One than saw Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster in theatres. Is that true? Hard to say, but the man is nothing if not incredibly optimistic.
Still, we have to ask: does anyone actually want Rebel Moon – Part Three? The first two films cost Netflix $166 million and were met with more boos than cheers. We all know that Snyder thrives when adapting comic book IP, just look at Watchmen or 300, but his original projects have struggled to win over audiences. If he really wants to keep this franchise alive, he’s going to need to deliver something remarkable.
I love Zack Snyder’s movies, but it’s going to take a lot to get me excited for Part Three after the two lacklustre instalments of Rebel Moon.
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