Summary

• Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon: The Director's Cut originally earned an NC-17 rated due to especially gory and disturbing scenes involving iral Noble.
• Snyder was originally open to keeping the rating, but his original deal with Netflix was for the director's cut to be rated R, so he edited the scenes in question.
• If the Rebel Moon director's cuts offer more character development and further flesh out the world, they could end up being improvements over the original versions.

Rebel Moon director Zack Snyder reveals that his director's cuts were originally rated NC-17. Hitting Netflix last December, the first installment in Snyder's epic space opera franchise introduces audiences to Sofia Boutella's Kora, a mysterious warrior who rallies a band of fighters to defend a peaceful farming colony. Following the release of the critically-panned Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver earlier this year, each of the films is now poised to get an extended, R-rated cut, with both hitting the streamer on August 2.

In a recent interview with CinemaBlend, Snyder reveals that Rebel Moon – Chapter One: Chalice of Blood was originally hit with an NC-17 rating due to several scenes involving Ed Skrein's iral Noble. While the director was initially interested in releasing the film with this rating, he says Netflix then reminded him of their original deal, which was for the director's cuts to be rated R. Check out Snyder's comments below:

There were a couple cuts I had to make to (an Ed Skrein) sequence to get it to the R rating from the NC-17. Because it was NC-17 for quite a while, and then we had to really … A few less whacks (to the head), a little less brains that he dug out. (That version is) somewhere.

But no – I did have a conversation with Netflix about whether or not that was a possibility. And they were like, ‘We really want it to be R.’ And I was like, ‘All right. That's fair. I did say I would give you an R-rated cut.’ … I asked Netflix if they were cool with the NC-17, and they were like, ‘No, we're not cool.’ Because I had agreed, Debbie (Snyder) was like, ‘You did agree that it would be R-rated.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. A deal's a deal.’

Will The Rebel Moon Director's Cuts Fix The Original Versions' Problems?

Why Reviews For The Original Cuts Were So Negative

Although the sci-fi franchise represents a major ion project for Snyder, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire's reviews were overwhelmingly negative right out of the gate. There was seemingly nowhere for the franchise to go but up, but then the second film came out and it fared even worse. As of writing, the sequel remains Snyder's lowest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes. Check out the chart below to see just how tepid the reception was for the two films:

The Rebel Moon cast may feature an impressive roster of actors, but reviews blasted the films for featuring little character development to speak off, predictable stories, and a world that feels like a hodgepodge of elements from other, better sci-fi and fantasy movies. While the two films' main problems don't include a lack of R-rated violence, sex, and swearing, Snyder has previously teased that his director's cuts, since they're much longer, feature more when it comes to individual character arcs and backstories.

Rebel Moon – Part One: Chalice of Blood clocks in at three hours and 24 minutes, while Rebel Moon – Part Two: Curse of Forgiveness' runtime is two hours and 53 minutes.

Theoretically, the Rebel Moon director's cuts could be vast improvements over the PG-13 originals. If Snyder can make audiences care about these characters, in addition to more fully fleshing out his world and showing all the ways it's different from other sci-fi properties, the new cuts could be far more compelling. It remains to be seen whether the Rebel Moon director's cuts will improve the franchise or just make it longer, but audiences should evidently expect some gruesome violence.

Source: CinemaBlend