Rebel Moon was turned down by Warner Bros. more than once, according to Zack Snyder

Zack Snyder's new Netflix movie, Rebel Moon, was pitched to Warner Bros. more than once – but the studio said no. 

The sci-fi film is based on an old Star Wars idea of Snyder's and is arriving in two parts, with Part 1 coming this year, and Part 2 early next year. 

"I think in college I had said something to my professor about like, 'What about Dirty Dozen in space? Or like an ensemble movie like Seven Samurai in space,'" Snyder told Screen Rant. "And he's like, 'That's a pretty good pitch. What about it?' And I was like, 'Well...' because it was one of those classes where you're supposed to pitch a movie. And then I was like, 'That is cool.' And then we did try and sell it as a video game and as a movie at Warner Bros. a couple of times. We pitched it to them. They were like, 'Oh.'" 

All of Snyder's previous directorial efforts, besides Dawn of the Dead, were released with Warner Bros., but the director now has a first look deal with Netflix – his first movie for the streamer was Army of the Dead. 

Rebel Moon is also getting a video game set after the films along with two extended, R-rated director's cuts. "The director's cut is close to an hour of extra content, so I think it's a legitimate extended universe version," Snyder has explained. "You really get to see a lot. It's just more painted-in all the way. The director's [cut] is a settle-in deep dive, which I have notoriously done throughout my career. I don't know how I got into this director's cut thing, but what I will say about it is that, for me, the director's cuts have always been something I had to fight for in the past and nobody wanted it. It was this bastard child that I was always trying to put together because they felt like there was a deeper version."

But, with Rebel Moon being a streaming exclusive, Snyder fans online have launched a campaign to get the films a theatrical release. 

Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire arrives on Netflix on December 22, with Part Two – The Scargiver coming on April 19, 2024. In the meantime, check out our guide to the best Netflix movies streaming now.