Zack Snyder Wanted To Make A Star Wars Samurai Movie
Being done in parallel with Episode VII.
There was a time when the Satr Wars franchise was kicking back into major gear and seemingly everyone was throwing their perspective hats into the ring to get a project going. Actors, writers, directors, they all had ideas about how to take the galaxy far, far away. One of them was Zack Snyder who apparently wanted to get a Star Wars Samurai movie going.
Zack Snyder originally denied the rumors that he was lobbying for the Star Wars samurai movie, but over the years that’s been easily disproven, even by Snyder himself. In and around 2013, Zack Snyder met with the folks from Lucasfilm to discuss the potential flick though it was after his movie Sucker Punch had significantly underwhelmed at both the box office and with critics.
But it was also right before he was going to restart the DC Universe with Man of Steel. Though he met with the Lucasfilm folks, there was concern about his availability for the Man of Steel sequel were it to happen.
Ultimately, the Zack Snyder Star Wars samurai movie didn’t get made or even started because of what appeared to be logistical concerns. But there could have been issues with the story itself as well.
Reporting at the time had it that Zack Snyder’s Star Wars samurai movie would have taken place in the timeline after Return of the Jedi, though that was likely only a loose structure for what could have happened with the film.
As we know, in the following years, the Star Wars universe grew rapidly with the sequel trilogy, the standalone films like Solo and Rogue One, and also the Disney+ series which kicked off with The Mandalorian. All of the timelines are getting covered here.
So what became of the Zack Snyder Star Wars samurai movie? Well, that would be Rebel Moon of course. While clearly not a 1:1 replacement of what Snyder originally pitched to Lucasfilm, and likely much bigger in scope, Rebel Moon was Snyder’s attempt to start up a new space opera, this time on Netflix.
The sci-fi fantasy film follows Kora (Sofia Boutella), a former soldier for the Imperium empire. A peaceful farming moon gets invaded by the Imperium’s forces so Kora gets together a team of warriors (sound like Star Wars Samurai?) from across the galaxy to help defend Veldt.
Rebel Moon features an ensemble cast that includes Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, and Ray Fisher (reuniting with Zack Snyder from Justice League) in their own version of a galactic empire.
Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire was a critical bomb of epic proportions. It was sitting in the 20 percent range on Rotten Tomatoes and, for some reason, has a planned sequel. The movie was based on Akira Kurosawa’s classic 1954 film Seven Samurai which also featured a group of warriors protecting a village from a gang of ruthless bandits that routinely pillage their crops. Just this one was in space.
Let’s count ourselves lucky that Zack Snyder never made his Star Wars samurai movie and instead just released something in its own (soon-to-be-forgotten) universe.
