Zack Snyder creates his own 'Star Wars' with 'Rebel Moon'

LOS ANGELES

If Zack Snyder's new Netflix sci-fi movie epic "Rebel Moon" looks and feels a lot like a "Star Wars" film, that's because it was originally pitched as one.

From its humble villagers in a far-flung galaxy battling planet-destroying imperial overlords, to its superheated swords, and even its title, the similarities with George Lucas's creation are unavoidable.

But when Snyder's pitch to Lucasfilm a decade or so ago didn't work out, the director went ahead and created his own sprawling, mythology-packed universe instead - something that he now sees as a huge blessing.

"When it turned out that that wasn't gonna work out, my wife and producing partner Deborah said to me, 'this is the best news that you possibly could have gotten,'" recalled Snyder.

"The process of creating this world, though exhausting and very time consuming - and really the amount of detail is insane - has been incredibly rewarding," said the director of "300" and "Watchmen."

"Because it does give you the ability to deconstruct sci-fi icons and tropes that you're used to."

The result is perhaps the most audacious step yet in a wildly popular if divisive career that has seen Snyder rework zombie classic "Dawn of the Dead," and radically overhaul beloved superheroes like Superman and Batman in films like "Man of Steel" and "Justice League."

"Rebel Moon" is a rare, $160 million-plus gamble on something new, in an era when Hollywood increasingly depends on established brands and franchises -- known as "intellectual property," or "IP."

"The double-edged sword of IP is that, on one hand, it's familiar, everybody knows what it is," said Snyder.

"On the other hand, it's familiar, everybody knows what it is," he joked.

"Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire" will be released on Netflix on December 22, with a second movie out in April.

It follows Kora (Sofia Boutella), a mysterious stranger who crashes her spaceship in the furthest reaches of the universe and finds herself defending the peaceful villagers who took her in from the tyrannical Imperium.