UPDATE: Warner Bros has released the first 7 minutes of “Mickey 17” online.
It’s now time for “Mickey 17” to be unveiled to the masses as it’s finally being released in theaters on Friday. I sadly missed the lone press screening that occurred here due to being under the weather. Although not close to “Parasite”-level enthusiasm, the reviews have been good (73 on Metacritic).
Variety is now projecting an $18M opening for “Mickey 17,” which some report had a budget of $150M, while others claim it was closer to $120M — in such a situation, and given how the trades tend to get their numbers from studios, I’d wager on the higher figure being the actual production cost.
Regardless, Variety, who believe the $120M number, are saying that ‘Mickey’ would need to make $300M to break even, otherwise Bong’s sci-fi epic will be in a deficit. It’s going to need some serious legs to make all of that money back. I blame Warner Bros who have done Bong’s film no service by continuously second-guessing its release date via multiple delays.
While waiting for Warner Bros to release “Mickey 17,” Bong decided to hop onboard his next project, which is already “halfway done,” an animated film about sea creatures which is set to become the most expensive film ever produced in Korea; the latest update had the film potentially eyeing a 2026 release.
“Mickey 17” was shot in 2022, and one can, somewhat, understand why Warner Bros were willing to bet on its success. Bong’s last film, released six years ago, was the Palme d’Or and Oscar winning “Parasite” which, against an $11M budget, ended up earning $263M worldwide.
An adaptation of Edward Ashton’s recently published novel, “Mickey 17” tackles an “expendable” (Pattinson), 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.
Bong assembled a great cast for his film, including Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo — the latter is said to play a villain embodying eerie similarities to Donald Trump and the actor hasn’t been shy in stating that he was influenced by the 47th President in the depiction of his character.
Of course, we all know the rule: take these reactions with a grain of salt rather than treating them as gospel. Still, I will say that the film tested like gangbusters earlier this year, and Lionsgate clearly has confidence.