Zack Snyder Finally Breaks His Silence on ‘Rebel Moon 3’

Few sci-fi projects arrived with as much ambition as ‘Rebel Moon’. Zack Snyder’s space opera was envisioned as a more mature take on ‘Star Wars’, and it was meant to spawn a long-running franchise on Netflix. Nearly 3 years after the first film landed, the fate of a potential ‘Rebel Moon’ sequel is still hanging in the air.

‘Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire’ arrived in 2023, followed by ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’ in 2024. Both were panned by critics, landing at 22% and 16% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the pair reportedly cost Netflix $166 million.

The sequel ended on a cliffhanger, and Snyder has said the third film would follow Kora and her group as they search for Princess Issa. The ensemble cast includes Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman and Anthony Hopkins.

Now Snyder has offered a fresh update, and it comes with a note of caution. During an interview with The Direct at TIFF, he was asked whether fans will see a third film anytime soon. He said he didn’t know, but suggested that as his director’s cuts get discovered, there could be “a little bit more groundswell about maybe making another one.”

The extended R-rated editions of both films dropped on Netflix in August 2024. They added about 2 hours of footage, plus the blood, cursing and sex scenes that were originally left off the table. Snyder’s hope is that those versions slowly win over new viewers.

The early numbers don’t back that plan yet. According to What’s on Netflix, the director’s cuts pulled in just 7.6M and 8.3M views in the second half of 2024. They now sit at lifetime totals of 13.6M and 14.2M views.

Both cuts did see a small bump in the first half of 2026, with 2.4M views each, up from 1.5M in the second half of 2025. That is a modest uptick, though, especially against the budget a flagship sci-fi franchise demands.

The theatrical-length versions tell a more mixed story. ‘Part One’ opened strong with 57.8M views in the second half of 2023, then added 54.2M in the first half of 2024. It has since reached a lifetime total of 135.6M views.

‘Part Two’ started similarly, with 55.8M views out of the gate, but it plummeted to just 10M in the second half of 2024. Its lifetime total of 76M views is nearly 44% below the first film, which suggests a large chunk of the audience never came back to finish the story.

Fight or die.
REBEL MOON – PART TWO: THE SCARGIVER premieres April 19 on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/L5cRRc1j4R

— Zack Snyder (@ZackSnyder) March 18, 2024

Optimism once ran much higher. Co-writer Kurt Johnstad said last year that the team had mapped out detailed outlines for movies 3 through 6, but he has since sounded far less certain, noting that the project wasn’t a priority for him or Snyder.

Since then, star Patrick Luwis has said he hasn’t heard a word about returning. Snyder has also been pulled toward an LAPD action thriller for Netflix, which was reported to have budget issues.

Netflix has not officially greenlit the third film, though it hasn’t announced a cancellation either. Elsewhere, Snyder’s adult-animated series ‘Twilight of the Gods’ will not return for a second season, which hints at a cooling appetite for his expanded universes.

Fans do have a precedent to lean on. ComicBook.com has argued that a passionate movement like the one that led to ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ could be the only route forward for ‘Rebel Moon’ as a franchise.

Whether that energy exists for a space opera that critics largely rejected is the big question. For now, the cameras are not rolling, and the numbers suggest the road back to Veldt remains steep.

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