Rebel Moon: Anthony Hopkins to voice a battle robot in Zack Snyder sci-fi epic

Yesterday, we shared some makeup test footage that director Zack Snyder posted on social media, giving a look at a horned character that will be featured in his sci-fi fantasy epic Rebel Moon. Now, Deadline has just broken some Rebel Moon casting news: two-time Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs) has just signed on to take a role in the film. But instead of playing a character on screen, Hopkins will be doing a vocal performance for this one. He’s providing the voice of Jimmy, “an impossibly sentient JC1435 mechanized battle robot and one-time defender of the slain King.”

Hopkins joins a cast that includes Sofia Boutella (The Mummy), Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Djimon Hounsou (A Quiet Place Part II), Ray Fisher (Justice League), Doona Bae (The Host), Jena Malone (Sucker Punch), Staz Nair (Supergirl), E. Duffy (whose previous credits are all short films), Charlotte Maggi (MaveriX), Sky Yang (Tomb Raider), Michiel Huisman (Game of Thrones), Alfonso Herrera (Ozark), Cary Elwes (Saw), Corey Stoll (Ant-Man), Ed Skrein (Deadpool), and Stuart Martin (Army of Thieves).

Snyder crafted the story for Rebel Moon with 300 co-writer Kurt Johnstad, and the pair wrote the screenplay with Army of the Dead co-writer Shay Hatten. The events of the film are

set in motion when a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy is threatened by the armies of a tyrannical regent named Balisarius. Desperate, the colonists dispatch a young woman with a mysterious past to seek out warriors from neighboring planets to help them make a stand.

So, much like Battle Beyond the Stars, it’s basically Seven Samurai / The Magnificent Seven in space. Snyder said he was inspired to make Rebel Moon because he grew up “as an Akira Kurosawa fan, a Star Wars fan. It’s my love of sci-fi and a giant adventure. My hope is that this also becomes a massive IP and a universe that can be built out.” The project actually started out as a Star Wars pitch that Snyder put together years ago. When the idea didn’t gain traction as a Star Wars movie, Snyder and producer Eric Newman considered developing it into a TV series before setting it up as a feature at the Netflix streaming service.

Snyder, his wife Deborah Snyder, and Wesley Coller are producing Rebel Moon through their company Stone Quarry. Newman is producing via his banner, Grand Electric, while Grand Electric’s Sarah Bowen executive produces.

Do you like the idea of Anthony Hopkins voicing a battle robot? Share your thoughts on this news by leaving a comment below.