Zack Snyder’s ‘Rebel Moon’ Could Change the Way Movies Are Made

The Big Picture

• Zack Snyder’s two-part space opera, Rebel Moon, is an expansive new IP that has been decades in the making, featuring a talented ensemble cast and inspired by Star Wars.
• Rebel Moon follows the story of a war brewing on the Motherworld, ruled by an oppressive regime, where a soldier-turned-farmer named Kora must lead a revolution with a band of heroes.
• The cast members, including Ray Fisher, Cleopatra Coleman, and E. Duffy, discuss their excitement about being part of an original IP and the lengthy 153-day shoot, as well as the upcoming R-rated director’s cut.

Zack Snyder is bringing his expansive Motherworld to Netflix this holiday season with the first of his two-part space opera, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire. Inspired by Star Wars, Snyder spent decades world-building this new IP and is introducing the first film in what may very well become a franchise with a huge cast of talented actors. From Academy Award-winners like Anthony Hopkins to stars on the rise like Ray Fisher and Cleopatra Coleman, to debut breakouts like E. Duffy, it took a village to bring this world to life on screen.

Rebel Moon opens up the universe with a war brewing. Viewers learn that the Motherworld is ruled by the oppressive Regent Balisarius (Fra Fee) and his vile right-hand man, Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein) who will stop at nothing to squash the rising rebellion. When they get word that Veldt, a rural farming planet on the outskirts of the galaxy, have done business with the rebels, the fate of the planet falls into the hands of Kora (Sofia Boutella), a soldier-turned-farmer who sought to escape her bloodied past. In the face of war, Kora must embark on a mission to marshal a band of heroes to lead the revolution.

In the fight against the Imperium, Fisher and Coleman play two pivotal roles, as members of the Bloodaxe family and resistance fighters, as well as Duffy, who plays Milius, a refugee with a planet full of reasons for wanting to see the fall of the Imperium. In their interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, the trio discusses the lengthy 153-day shoot, why they were more excited than nervous to be a part of this original story, the Rebel Moon: House of the Bloodaxe comics, and Snyder’s R-rated director’s cut. Check out the full interview in the video above, or you can read the transcript below.

COLLIDER: I like throwing some curveballs at the beginning. If someone has never seen anything you’ve done before, besides Rebel Moon because obviously everyone should watch Rebel Moon, what is the first thing they should watch and why?

E. DUFFY: Well, I’m gonna throw a curveball right back and tell you that this is the first movie I’ve ever done.

Wait a minute. I just remembered that and I’m so sorry, but I knew that. I should have started with a different question, so I will give you the exception and say Rebel Moon. [Laughs]

CLEOPATRA COLEMAN: It’s kind of a flex, though. Like, “This is my first movie.”

RAY FISHER: No big deal, or whatever.

COLEMAN: I would say, weirdly, since we’re curveballing, The Last Man on Earth just because no matter what genre I do I just think it’s important for people to know the comedy background that I approach everything with. I think maybe it’s good to know that.

FISHER: I would say Zack Snyder’s Justice League fo sho, because it’s one of the greatest comic book movies of all time.

‘Rebel Moon’s Devra Bloodaxe Has a Lot to Say in Part One

The director’s cut of that film is spectacular. I love his version. So making both of these films, what was the night before you were shooting something that you were actually in your head about it in terms of like, “This is gonna be a really big day and I’ve really got to deliver and I’m not sleeping?”

COLEMAN: Yeah, I have one. I joined a little later and my scene, the first time you see me, I have quite a lot to say. And in the schedule, I think you guys hadn’t shot much dialogue yet, so it was the first really big heavy dialogue scene of the shoot, and not only that, it was on a massive green screen and I had to emerge from my spaceship and walk all the way across this massive, massive stage and hit a black mark on a black floor. So I was just like, “What the…?” And it was, I think, four or five days we shot that.

FISHER: It was a while. Yeah, that was a big sequence.

COLEMAN: And by the fifth day I was like, “What are words? I don’t know.” But the night before I was a bit like, “Okay, I gotta get all the lines right.”

FISHER: For me, I couldn’t sleep because I was just excited. I was like, “Oh man, I can’t wait to get up and do this sh*t. It’s gonna be f*cking awesome. Oh wait, can I say that?

You can curse.

FISHER: Well bleep it out because my mom’s probably listening… But I was gonna be like, “Hey, listen, this is gonna be awesome.” It’s one of those things where I can’t sleep because I’m literally just like, “Okay, I wanna get up and go have fun with my friends.”

DUFFY: I think for me it was the first big fight sequence that I had to do because I’d never had any experience like that and I generally consider myself pretty gangly and uncoordinated, so hopefully it looks good to the viewers.

Zack Snyder’s ‘Rebel Moon’ Expands With ‘House of the Bloodaxe’ Comics

One of the things that’s really cool about this is that it’s really hard to make a big-budget original IP, and I really give Zack and Netflix a lot of credit for making something like this, and it’s a two part movie. Can you sort of talk about being part of something like this that isn’t based on other IP?

FISHER: It’s great. You get to originate something, and how often does that happen these days? Especially something that’s going to be as big as what this universe is going to be. Rebel Moon, we’re already expanding into comics, as well. They have House of the Bloodaxe, a prequel comic that’s gonna accompany the film, I think a couple of weeks after in January. It’s massive. With all the work that I’ve done this feels like it is the most humbling because it’s a very fresh beginning.

COLEMAN: It’s super rare, I think, to have a completely original IP. It’s really, really exciting. And to sit there with Zack and have him just tell you the whole movie off the top of his head because it’s all just swimming around in there is just a really exciting opportunity that doesn’t come around very often.

DUFFY: It’s just exciting to be a part of, and to be helping someone like Zack realize this vision is just a true honor.

What is something in both Part One and Part Two that you are incredibly excited for audiences to see?

FISHER: Well, we can’t tell you about Part Two.

You’d be surprised how much people have said. It’s not spoilers, it’s not like someone is saying, “Well this character does this.” It’s more generalization.

COLEMAN: I’m just excited for people to get to know Devra more. I think there’s a lot more to come.

FISHER: Yeah, I think that Part One is definitely the team building, and what I think folks are going to really enjoy in Part Two is the sort of expansion of that. We get a more in-depth look at the characters that we grow to love in Part One.

DUFFY: Yeah, we get to focus a little bit more on a single world in the second one, and so I think that viewers will be able to see the detail that went into building that world, which is really exciting to see.

I am a big fan of Zack Snyder’s director’s cuts for me. I’m happy they made the PG-13. I encourage everyone to watch it, but I know that the director’s cut for me is probably gonna be the one I rewatch again and again. Is there anything that you can tease about the longer cut that you were incredibly excited for people to see?

FISHER: I haven’t seen the extended cut just yet, but whatever it is, I know it’s gonna be awesome.

COLEMAN: Well, it’s R-rated, no?

It is. It is R-rated and that’s one of the other reasons why… I’m an adult, I’m looking forward to seeing it. For example, Zack said to me that the cantina scene in the PG-13 is the cantina scene and in the R-rated one it’s the brothel scene.

FISHER: Yeah, there are definitely some interesting alts in the filming of it all that you’ll be able to see in the extended version. But at the end of the day, it’s that interesting mix of there is a world in which all of these things can exist at the same time, and I think they’re doing something really interesting and something that probably will change how movies get made. When folks watch this and they love it and then they watch the extended version and they love that, all the streamers may end up going, “Hey, look, we need multiple rated versions of these things. How do we make that happen?”

Sofia Boutella Matched Zack Snyder’s Energy on the Set of ‘Rebel Moon’

This was a long shoot, it’s a 153 day shoot, and I’m curious, as actors, what is it like when you’re filming something like this with essentially a marathon? You’ve really got to be prepared for such a long period of time, so as performers, what is that actually like and how are you mentally and physically keeping yourself together for such a shoot?

DUFFY: I think in some ways the gym helped. Having that sense of routine and a place for us to go and all be together kept a sense of normalcy or, like, consistency around it. And then just all the boring stuff, like making sure you sleep and eat and call your mom. [Laughs]

FISHER: Yeah, I don’t know how Sofia did it. She runs on a completely different level of energy than anybody I’ve ever seen. Well, she and Zack both run on completely different levels of energy than people I’ve ever seen. But those are the folks who really help to keep you grounded and to make sure that everybody’s feeling good, because the rest of us, we may not be on set every day. We may get a couple of days off or maybe a week off between certain things, but she was in it full on almost the entire time, and so was Zack.

COLEMAN: Well I was in and out, so I don’t know if that’s easier or harder, but I was at home, I think there were times when I had like a month or two at home, and having to just stay ready and then come back and be consistent.

Yeah, that’s the other thing is that they could call you tomorrow and be like, “We need you for a half day,” and mentally being ready for that.

COLEMAN: Yeah, you gotta stay ready. Just stay ready all year.

I know I’ve gotta wrap but just real quick, I am very curious about Malcolm Washington’s The Piano Lesson. What can you tease?

FISHER: I can tease it’s gonna be great, and I can tell you I had a beautiful experience on that. Actually, funny enough, both Malcolm and Zack had come to see a play that I had done in LA this past summer and I got to introduce them to each other. I said it was a peak experience having two of the best film director experiences I’ve had converge in one place. I said, “Everything’s coming full circle.”

Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire is available to stream on Netflix.

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