Most expensive Netflix movie of the year has been in the works for 40 years

Talented directors often must wait years to finally release their passion projects, and it looks like Zack Snyder has finally made headway with his.

For Christopher Nolan, Inception was his passion project, and for Martin Scorsese it was arguably Gangs of New York.

For Zack Snyder, it is his upcoming Rebel Moon.

The director has highlighted that in his journey to bring Rebel Moon to screens, he has had multiple setbacks over the last four decades.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he said he had first came up with the building blocks for his film in the 1980s when he was in film school, so quite a few years back.

He said his sci-film - which will be released in two instalments - was largely inspired by Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and its Western remake The Magnificent Seven.

Speaking of his journey from his mind to the screens, Snyder said he had tried to pitch it as an R-rated Star Wars story in 2012.

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“I thought that Star Wars was in a vulnerable state, so I thought I had a chance,” he said.

However, trying to pitch a mature story and R-rated film to Disney certainly sounds like a difficult job, and the company ultimately turned it down as Snyder insistence on the rating.

He then reworked it into a "Game of Thrones in space" television series but ultimately went back to trying to make it into a film.

Then Netflix stepped in and agreed that they would greenlight the project, also permitting the director to keep his mature rating.

Snyder’s wife Deborah said these setbacks were for the best as he has been allowed to create his story without compromising due to the wishes of studios.

"You think you have a hard time with DC? You think you're mad at them because they won't let you do what you want What do you think Star Wars is going to be?” she told him.

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As well as this being a long-time coming film, it is also the most expensive flick that Netflix will release in 2023.

The project has an eye-watering budget of $166 million, according to estimates made by Vanity Fair.

Titled Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire, the first instalment synopsis reads: “When a colony on the edge of the galaxy finds itself threatened by the armies of the tyrannical Regent Balisarius, they dispatch a young woman with a mysterious past to seek out warriors from neighboring planets to help them take a stand.”

The film is set to be released on December 15, 2023.