So, what exactly is the budget of Bong Joon-ho’s “Mickey 17”? You’re hearing all kinds of figures, with some outlets (ahem, Deadline) carrying water for Warner Bros by taking their word as gospel that it cost as little as $80M.
Puck’s Matt Belloni isn’t taking the bait, echoing what Variety had reported last year; They both say “Mickey 17” cost a whopping $150M. Even worse, Belloni’s seen early tracking for the film, set for March release, and thing’s aren’t looking too good for this one.
Less than three weeks before its release, “Mickey 17” is currently tracking to have an $18M opening weekend in North America. Not great. The film has only started screening for press, so we’ll have to wait until the embargo lifts, on Saturday, to see how reviews turn out, but Warner Bros now has a steep hill to climb if it wants to make its money back.
‘Mickey 17,’ shot in 2022, has had three release date changes. It was originally supposed to come out on March 29, 2024, then January 31, 2025, then April 18, 2025 and finally settled with March 7, 2025.
An adaptation of Edward Ashton’s recently published novel, “Mickey 17” on an “expendable” (Pattinson), who is a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize an ice world. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact.
The film has been test screened at least five times since the fall of 2023. Reactions have been all over the place. This is Bong’s first film since his 2019 Palme d’Or & Oscar winning “Parasite,” and he’s assembled a great cast for it, including Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo.
UPDATE: It should be noted that Warner Bros reps have now at least distanced themselves from the previous “it-cost-$80M” narrative, and are saying the budget was actually $120M. Again, probably a lie.