Posted in: Movies, Warner Bros | Tagged: bong joon ho, Mickey 17

Mickey 17 Is "The Story Is About How Pathetic Humans Can Be"

Mickey 17 director Bong Joon Ho says, "Ultimately, the story is about how pathetic humans can be," and exploring a new angle on eternal life.

Regarding science fiction, there really isn't any middle ground for portraying humans in the future. They have either solved all war and crime, so now they live in a perfect utopia, so the only things you need to explore are surface level, or they are somehow even worse than they are right now. Mickey 17 is absolutely the latter, and it isn't shy about it either. One of the aspects of the initial book that really drew director Bong Joon Ho in was this different approach to the idea of "human printing" and even living forever. In an interview with Empire, Bong explained, "In most sci-fi films and fantasy stories, eternal life is treated as something sublime, spiritual, profound. I was really captivated by the idea that human printing is not respectful at all. You're literally reproducing humans like an inkjet printer."

That is about as callous for your fellow man as you can get, and no one is better at breathing life and nuance into over-the-top concepts. Every inch of the train on Snowpiercer was so deliberately made that you can see the little aspects of the worldbuilding within the sets, so it will be so much fun to see how Bong builds the world of Mickey 17 around this concept.

And like Snowpiercer, we're again using high-concept science fiction to look humans straight in the eye and see the darkness within. Or, in the case of the people in Mickey 17, how utterly pathetic they all are. Bond explained, "Ultimately, the story is about how pathetic humans can be. It's almost like you can smell every human character in the film — their piss stains and their smelly socks." Gross but effective, as always, director Bong.

Mickey 17: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

From the Academy Award-winning writer/director of Parasite, Bong Joon Ho, comes his next groundbreaking cinematic experience, Mickey 17. The unlikely hero, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) has found himself in the extraordinary circumstance of working for an employer who demands the ultimate commitment to the job… to die, for a living.

Written and directed by Bong Joon Ho, Mickey 17 stars Robert Pattinson (The Batman, Tenet), Naomi Ackie (Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker), Steven Yeun (Nope), with Academy Award nominees Toni Collette (Hereditary), and Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things).

The film is produced by Dede Gardner (Oscar winner for Moonlight, 12 Years a Slave), Jeremy Kleiner (Oscar winner for Moonlight, 12 Years a Slave), Bong Joon Ho and Dooho Choi (Okja, Snowpiercer). It is based on the novel Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton. The executive producers are Brad Pitt, Jesse Ehrman, Peter Dodd and Marianne Jenkins. The director of photography is Darius Khondji (Oscar nomination for Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, Okja). The production designer is Fiona Crombie (Oscar nomination for The Favourite, Cruella). It is edited by Yang Jinmo (Oscar nomination for Parasite, Okja). The visual effects supervisor is Dan Glass (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw). The costume designer is Catherine George (Okja, Snowpiercer).

Warner Bros. Pictures presents An Offscreen Production / A Kate Street Picture Company Production, A Film By Bong Joon Ho: Mickey 17. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, in theaters only nationwide on January 31, 2025, and internationally beginning on 28 January 2025.

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