Bong only became a well-known name for mainstream American audiences in 2019, thanks to the massive success of his Best Picture Academy Award winner Parasite. Yet even before that, he had already directed Western sci-fi productions like Snowpiercer and Okja. This time around the famed director will look to adapt the 2022 sci-fi novel Mickey7, written by Edward Ashton, into his biggest English language movie yet.
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There’s not a lot to see in the first Mickey 17 teaser posted by Warner Bros. Pictures. The brief 30-second clip merely shows Pattinson’s character waking up in what appears to be some type of high-tech cryo chamber and looking deeply into the camera. That image fits the tone of the book, as the original Mickey7 story follows an Expendable, a disposable clone who is assigned dangerous tasks at the human colony on the ice planet of Niflheim but who is revived into a new clone every time he dies, so yes, that sounds like proper sci-fi.
It seems Bong’s adaptation will skip a whole 10 Mickeys, as the title for the movie is Mickey 17 and not 7, like Ashton’s novel. However, given the director’s familiarity with the genre, he may take his fair share of creative liberties as the screenplay writer. It’s been confirmed Squid Game composer Jae-il Jung will pen the score, with previous collaborators in Bong’s work such as editor Yang Jin-mo (Parasite) and costume designer Catherine George (Okja and Snowpiercer) joining the Plan B Entertainment, Kate Street Picture, and Offscreen, Inc. Production. Actors Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo join Pattinson in supporting roles.
Korean sci-fi movies have a few gems that enthusiasts of the genre should check out. However, Bong Joon-ho has always been a noted admirer of more famous works, going as far as to include Goerge Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road in his top 10 list of the best movies of all time. The country has one of the biggest movie scenes in the world, producing countless fantastic South Korean horror movies.
Mickey 17 is scheduled for release on March 29, 2024.
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Source: Warner Bros. Pictures | YouTube
