From one movie, to two movies, to four, Zack Snyder’s Netflix space movie saga Rebel Moon keeps expanding.

The Netflix original production, which Snyder wrote and directed, comes from a script so long it was split into two films. In an interview released Tuesday, Snyder told Vanity Fair that each of those films will be released with an original and a director’s cut.

Snyder said that the first version of each film will be a version “that anyone can enjoy and watch,” but a more extreme version of his movies will later be released on Netflix.

“I think for fans of mine and people who are ready to take a deeper, harder dive, that’ll be fun for them,” he said.

Snyder has a history of releasing longer versions of already substantial films, such as his “Ultimate Edition” of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, his director’s cuts of Sucker Punch and Watchmen and of course the “Snyder Cut” of Justice League. This time, however, Snyder is ahead of the game, overseeing the release of both versions of the Rebel Moon movies from the beginning, so both sets of films are in line with his creative vision.

Snyder came up with the story, about a peaceful colony on the edge of a galaxy run by an authoritarian government, three decades ago. He originally pitched it to Lucasfilm, before the studio’s sale to Disney, as a standalone Star Wars film. After that project went nowhere, he reworked the material into its own original story for Netflix.

Snyder’s script was a hefty 172 pages, and the movie’s producer Deborah Snyder told Vanity Fair that during a discussion with Netflix’s film chairman Scott Stuber the idea to make two movies came about.

“Stuber was like, ‘On the service, under-two-hour movies really do better for some reason,’ even though you’ll binge-watch a series of eight episodes,” Deborah Snyder said. “Zack said, ‘If you ask me to make this less than two hours, I’m going to lose all the character. You won’t care about these people. It’s a character story about how people can change, and redemption, and what are you willing to fight for…’ So he said, ‘What if I give you two movies?’”

Obviously, Netflix agreed with the Snyders. Rebel Moon focuses on Kora (Sofia Boutella), a fighter for her people, desperate to get out from under the boot of tyrannical rule. Kora must round up a group of guerilla warriors to challenge the evil overlords, making the film an intergalactic take on The Magnificent Seven (or The Dirty Dozen).

The film’s stellar ensemble cast includes Charlie Hunnam, Doona Bae, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Ray Fisher, Jena Malone and Anthony Hopkins. Just as he did on his Netflix zombie film Army of the Dead, Snyder serves as Rebel Moon‘s cinematographer.

Snyder says his plan is to have part two released “on the heels” of part one. “It won’t be long after. Netflix can do things that a traditional studio can’t do as far as how close together the movies are released,” he said in the article. Expect the alternate versions of each film to be available on Netflix after that.

The first part of Rebel Moon hits on Netflix on December 22nd, 2023.