Long after his unceremonious exit from DC Studios and subsequent scraping of his movies from canon, Zack Snyder breathed life into a new franchise with Rebel Moon. The first installment in the Star Wars rival, Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire, landed on Netflix on December 22 and has started to work its magic. Competing against theatrical releases including Sydney Sweeney’s rom-com, Anyone But You, and even closer home with Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the filmmaker has tough ice to crack.

Remarkably, amid this thick of competitiveness, the director has managed to hold his own as he rushes for a new chokehold.

Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire takes the top spot in Netflix rankings

A slew of Netflix releases such as Leave The World Behind, Blood Vessel, and The Rope Curse 3 came across as streaming competitors to the first part of Rebel Moon. Despite the uphill battle, the Zack Snyder directorial rushed to take the top spot in as many as 61 countries and counting. By the end of the weekend, the movie stands slated to be the most popular global movie on Netflix, rushing past Maestro, even as critics and audiences dissect its plot and differ on stance.

Starring Sofia Boutella as the lead, the current PG-13 version of the movie clocked in at 2 hours and 13 minutes. Set in a manner similar to Disney’s Star Wars, the outing differs massively in its world-building and no-holds-barred visuals. The film is choc-a-bloc with signature Snyder elements such as cinematic slow-motion, artistic blur on laser shots, and a major emphasis on creative photography. The movie’s pivotal goal stood to form the base for the second one set to land in mid-2024 as well as announce the visionary’s return.

Rebel Moon, in the meantime, already has an R-rated extended Snyder cut of the movie scheduled for release. Meanwhile, the movie found itself in murky waters.

Zack Snyder once again lands in a sea of criticism and divided viewer opinions

Much like his DCEU outings, the first part of Rebel Moon landed a mere 19% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which then crawled to 23%. On the contrary, the audience scored pitched it fresh and watchable at 69%, once again highlighting the signature divide that Zack Snyder’s creative choices have. The movie has found criticisms for its focus on heavy visual elements while not fleshing out the characters or the story.

Coming to his defense, several viewers commended the artistic flair in the outing while awaiting the extended R-rated cut for a better story. Netflix has plans to release more than three hours long Snyder Cut of Rebel Moon 1 & 2 following or along the release of Rebel Moon–Part Two: The Scargiver in early 2024. Regardless, as of now, the movie still passes through scrutiny and dissection while Netflix cashes on.

What are your thoughts and reactions to Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire taking the top spot? Let us know in the comments below.