Netflix Releases Most Expensive Movie of the Year While Spending $166 Million on a Two-Part Film That’s Been 20 Years in the Works
Netflix is preparing to release the first part of the year’s most expensive film, after spending $166 million on a project that has been in the works for two decades.
The streaming giant will release Zack Snyder’s highly anticipated Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire just in time for Christmas on December 22.
While the second part, Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver, is expected to be released in April 2024.
Vanity Fair estimates the project has a budget of $166 million, making it Netflix’s most expensive project of the year.
Netflix releases most expensive movie of the year as it unveils $166 million two-part film 20 years in the making
Just in time for Christmas, the platform is releasing Zack Snyder’s highly anticipated Rebel Moon
Zach has indicated in previous interviews that he has been working on this story for the past twenty years, and at one point it was a pitch for a new Star Wars film.
The first part sets up the “star-trotting epic” that centers around Sofia Boutella’s character Kora – “a lone wolf soldier who has found community and connection on the quiet farm moon of Veldt.”
The IMDB The synopsis reads: “When a peaceful settlement on the edge of a distant moon is threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling power, a mysterious stranger living among the villagers becomes their best hope for survival.”
Instead of relying on CGI and visual effects to bring his science fiction world to life, Zach opted to use a large portion of the budget to build in the sets. Santa Clarita Gorge just outside Los Angeles.
Crews went to work there to find a Scandinavian style village complete with houses, shops and barns, a stone bridge and even an entire river.
To make sure it looked as realistic as possible, the director also insisted that they grow real crops in the film for the farmers to harvest.
While there is no confirmed release date for part two, Zach told Vanity Fair that fans won’t have to wait long.
“It won’t be long after that. “Netflix can do things that a traditional studio can’t do when it comes to how close together the films are released,” he explained.
The first part sets up the ‘star-trotting epic’ which centers around Sofia Boutella’s character Kora – ‘a lone wolf soldier who has found community and connection on the quiet farming moon of Veldt’
The first part, split into two parts, will hit viewers’ screens on December 22, while the second part, The Scargiver, is expected to be released in April 2024.
Rather than rely on CGI and visual effects to bring his science fiction world to life, Zach opted to use much of the budget to build the sets in the Santa Clarita Canyon, just outside Los Angeles.
Zack Snyder (pictured) has been working on Rebel Moon for about twenty years, during which time he has directed a wide range of hit films
He previously told Netflix: “I’ve been working on this idea for this movie Rebel Moon for about 20 years.”
During that time he directed a large number of DC films, including The Flash, Wonder Woman and Man Of Steel.
His cast for this latest venture includes Anthony Hopkins voicing a robot named Jimmy, and Deadpool’s Ed Skrein as sadistic Admiral Atticus Noble.
Rebel Moon is the latest collaboration between Snyder and Netflix following his 2021 feature Army Of The Dead.
That bodes well for the new venture, with the film having been viewed by 72 million households in its first four weeks, according to the streaming platform.
He also wrote Army Of Thieves, Netflix’s prequel to the aforementioned original, and is working on a sequel and anime spin-off series.