With Rebel Moon: A Child of Fire having hit Netflix over the Christmas Holidays and its a follow-up, The Scargiver, set to debut Easter Weekend, talk has turned to when Zack Snyder is finally going to release his “Snyder cut” of the first film. According to a recent appearance on the DGA Director’s Cut podcast (excerpted by The Playlist), Snyder says he’s waiting until the second film comes out, and that fans can expect it in the summer of 2024.
He notes that the director’s cut should clock in at an hour longer than the current version of the film, stating that Netflix specifically put aside extra money so that he could shoot additional sequences. He says the idea was always that there would be a second version of the film. He maintains that this never happened on his previous director’s cuts. “All my other director’s cuts are me just reacting to the studio like getting noted and then freaking out and then running to home video to save me.”
To say the film has gotten a mixed reaction from critics and fans alike would be an understatement. The film has been relatively successful for the streamer (even if it’s unlikely to crack their 10 Most Watched Films list), but many fans who had issues with the PG-13 cut wondered what the wisdom was in releasing a compromised version at all. According to Snyder, the original script was like a live-action version of Heavy Metal, although it remains to be seen if Rebel Moon: The Snydercut lives up to that concept.
To note, the version of Rebel Moon: Part 2 – The Scargiver, which we’ll be getting in April, will be another PG-13 version, with an R-rated cut of that one to follow the new cut of A Child of Fire presumably. There is no news yet on when we might see that one, although perhaps it would make sense for Snyder to simply drop both at the same time.