Netflix is going even bigger on Zack Snyder’s upcoming sci-fi epic Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire by turning it into a massive, platform-dominating, worldwide release and bumping its release time up by a few hours to 7 p.m. PT on Dec. 21.
The move, seemingly prompted by nothing, shows just how much Netflix thinks this will be a big winner for the streamer. The film was originally set to land at midnight on December 22, a more traditional-style release for the streamer. By bumping the film up a few hours, the release of Rebel Moon becomes an evening event and not simply a drop of a film on a certain day. It’s a strategy that streamers have been testing out recently as they nudge ever closer to becoming more like broadcast television. Disney, for example, premiered the second season of Loki weekly at “prime time” hours instead of dropping at midnight like the first season did.
That isn’t the only way Netflix is looking to turn Rebel Moon‘s launch into a massive deal. They’ll also be branding their homepage with a cinematic digital billboard worldwide from Dec. 21 to 25 (see below for a gif of what that will look like). Finally, to entice viewers to watch it even more, the film will have a trailer for its sequel, Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, attached to the end. I suppose that the latter one is really only exciting if you enjoy the first film, but Netflix seems pretty confident you will.
It makes sense they’re doing this massive push. Snyder is already a big winner for the streamer with his Army of the Dead franchise, and this is Netflix’s shot at having something akin to Star Wars. The streamer dominates a lot of genres, but sci-fi isn’t one of them at the moment, and they’ve already gone in hard on Rebel Moon, with comics, games, and more coming.