Netflix and Zack Snyder’s sci-fi epic is actually the launch of a new way to make movies

Original sci-fi universes are rare in Hollywood, so it’s no surprise that Zack Snyder’s latest blockbuster Rebel moon gets a lot of attention. Netflix’s deep-space epic is going to be a completely original world, something like Snyder’s take on Star Wars. Rebel moon got his first big reveal Vanity purse on Tuesday and while we didn’t learn a huge amount about the movies, we did learn a lot of very interesting things about how they were made.

One of Snyder’s most interesting comments in the story is about why Rebel moon is now two movies instead of one. Snyder’s films tend to be on the long side, especially when he has the final say on their content. Snyder has quit Guardians is three hours and 10 minutes long while Zack Snyder’s Justice League clocks in at just over four hours. According to Snyder, Netflix said movies under two hours generally do better with its users, despite their habit of watching multiple TV episodes in a row.

With that in mind, it’s not shocking that Netflix asked Snyder to quit Rebel moon‘s initial runtime a bit lower. But when the director complained that cutting the film down would ruin the character arcs and themes, he found the solution to split the film into two films instead. Snyder says that unlike other two-part blockbusters, Rebel moonThe parts of the series will be released fairly close together thanks to Netflix’s non-traditional release schedule.

But even the shorter, two-part films have an interesting compromise. According to Snyder, there will be two parts to each film release: one intended for all ages and another intended for adults that will be closer to Snyder’s vision. Snyder regularly uses violence, swearing, gore and nudity in his films, but it’s not yet clear what offensive content will be removed from the more family-friendly version of the films or if they’ll also have vastly different runtimes than Snyder’s version of the parts.

Image: Netflix

On the one hand, the idea of ​​a studio pushing a filmmaker toward a more algorithmically friendly, mainstream version of their film is nothing new — take all of Snyder’s other films with director’s cuts, for example. What’s strange and exciting in this case is the idea of ​​that marketable version of the movie living alongside the version closer to the director’s original vision, allowing audiences to choose for themselves which option is best for them.

As for how this all turns out, we’ll have to wait for the official release of part one of Rebel moon on December 22.