Netflix and Zack Snyder’s sci-fi epic is actually the launch of a new way to make movies

polygon.com:

Original sci-fi universes are few and far between in Hollywood, so it’s no surprise that Zack Snyder’s latest blockbuster Rebel Moon is getting a lot of attention. Netflix’s deep-space epic is set to be an entirely original world, that’s something like Snyder’s take on Star Wars. Rebel Moon got its first big reveal in Vanity Fair on Tuesday and while we didn’t learn a tremendous amount about the movies, we did learn a lot of very interesting stuff about how they got made.

Among the most interesting comments of Snyder’s in the story is about why Rebel Moon is now two movies instead of one. Snyder’s films are often on the long side, especially when he’s given final say over their content. Snyder’s cut of Watchmen is three hours and 10 minutes long while Zack Snyder’s Justice League clocks in at just over four hours. Netflix, according to Snyder, said that movies shorter than two hours tend to do better with its users — despite their habit for binging several episodes of TV in a row.

With that in mind, it’s not shocking that Netflix asked Snyder to cut Rebel Moon’s initial runtime down a bit. But when the director bemoaned the fact that shortening the movie would ruin its character arcs and themes, he found the solution of splitting it up into two movies instead. Snyder says that unlike other two-part blockbusters, Rebel Moon’s parts will be released fairly close to one another thanks to Netflix’s non-traditional release schedule.

But even the shorter, two-part movies have a bit of interesting compromise to them. According to Snyder, there will be two cuts of each movie release: one intended for all ages, and another intended for adults that hews closer to Snyder’s vision. Snyder frequently employs violence, swearing,