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Mickey 17

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Mickey 17
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBong Joon Ho
Written byBong Joon Ho
Based onMickey7
by Edward Ashton
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyDarius Khondji
Edited byYang Jin-mo
Music byJung Jae-il
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • February 15, 2025 (2025-2-15) (Berlinale)
  • February 28, 2025 (2025-2-28) (South Korea)
  • March 7, 2025 (2025-3-7) (United States)
Running time
137 minutes[1]
Countries
  • United States[2]
  • South Korea
LanguageEnglish
Budget$118 million[3]
Box office$58.6 million[4][5]

Mickey 17 is a 2025 science fiction black comedy film written, produced, and directed by Bong Joon Ho, based on the 2022 novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton. The film stars Robert Pattinson in the title role, alongside Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo. Set in the future, the plot follows a man who joins a space colony as an "Expendable", a disposable worker who gets cloned every time he dies for research purposes.

Mickey 17 premiered at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2025, before being theatrically released by Warner Bros. Pictures in South Korea on February 28, 2025, and later in the United States on March 7. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with many highlighting Bong's direction and Pattinson's performances.

Plot

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In the year 2054, Mickey Barnes and his friend Timo are financially destitute after a failed business venture. Unable to repay a murderous loan shark, the pair flee by signing up as crew for a spaceship that leaves Earth to colonize the planet Niflheim — Timo as a shuttle pilot and Mickey as the spaceship's only "Expendable". Using Earth-banned technology to clone Mickey and restore his memories, Mickey is treated as disposable, given lethal assignments and regenerated after death. During the voyage, a romance develops between Mickey and security agent Nasha.

Four years later, the spaceship arrives at snowy Niflheim. Using several Mickeys sequentially, the spaceship's scientists develop a vaccine against Niflheim's pathogens. Mickey 17, the seventeenth Mickey iteration, is tasked to capture Niflheim's tardigrade-like lifeform ("creeper") for analysis. He falls into a fissure in the ice, beyond the reach of Timo, who leaves and reports Mickey 17's death. The creepers arrive and collectively push Mickey 17 out of the fissure.

Mickey 17 returns to the spaceship and meets the newly generated Mickey 18, who is more aggressive. As the expedition's leader, politician Kenneth Marshall, has vowed to kill any "Multiples" (simultaneously living clones), Mickey 18 tries to kill Mickey 17, who resists, suggesting that the Mickeys live by secretly rotating duties, meals and deaths. Mickey 18 then tries to kill Timo, but is interrupted and leaves with Nasha. Mickey 17 is brought to dinner with Marshall, his wife Ylfa, and security agent Kai. Mickey 17 suffers severe pain after being served experimental meat and being treated with experimental painkillers. Kai intervenes to stop Marshall from executing Mickey 17. Kai later woos Mickey 17, who flees.

Nasha learns of the Mickeys and accepts them both. Kai discovers the Mickeys and goes to report them, but is stopped by Nasha. When Mickey 17 informs Mickey 18 what happened at dinner, an enraged Mickey 18 decides to kill Marshall at a public ceremony commemorating a piece of Niflheim rock. Chaos ensues when two baby creepers emerge from the rock. Mickey 17 arrives and captures creeper Zoco, but creeper Luko jumps onto Marshall and is killed by Kai and other security agents. Nasha stops Mickey 18 from killing Marshall, who discovers the Multiples. Mickey 17, Mickey 18 and Nasha are arrested. Numerous creepers arrive outside the ship, calling out to Zoco.

In the brig, Mickey 17's description of the creepers helping him makes Nasha realize they are not hostile. Timo tries to kill Mickey 17 to satisfy the loan shark, but Nasha and Mickey 18 overpower him. The Mickeys and Nasha are brought to Marshall, who wants to exterminate the creepers. Marshall destroys Mickey's stored memories, while Nasha saves Zoco from being executed by Ylfa. Marshall's assistant Preston persuades Marshall to task the Mickeys to compete in collecting creeper tails, which Ylfa wants for making edible sauce, with the winner being allowed to live. The Mickeys are forced to wear remote-detonated bomb vests to ensure their compliance.

When the Mickeys are sent out, they peacefully seek out the creepers' leader, which prompts Marshall to go outside himself with a security team, intending to personally kill the creepers. Using a translation device, Mickey 17 communicates with the creepers' leader, informing on Marshall's plan. The creepers' leader threatens to kill all humans, unless Zoco is returned alive and one human is killed in recompense for Luko's death.

Mickey 17 communicates to Nasha via camera to free Zoco. Nasha takes Ylfa hostage to ensure Zoco's release. Nasha releases Ylfa, who tries to kill Zoco, but Nasha again saves him. The security agents arrest Ylfa. Nasha returns Zoco to the creepers' leader, while Mickey 18 fights Marshall. Mickey 18 detonates the bomb planted on his vest, killing himself and Marshall to fulfill the demand by the creepers' leader.

In the aftermath, Ylfa commits suicide in a psychiatric ward, while Preston and other Marshall collaborators are imprisoned. An associate of the loan shark tries to kill Timo, but Timo manages to kill him. Nasha is later elected as a colony political leader. She officiates a groundbreaking ceremony on Niflheim, where Mickey 17 (now "Mickey Barnes") detonates the cloning device to symbolically end the Expendable program.

Cast

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Production

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Filmmaker Bong Joon Ho and actor Robert Pattinson in 2025

A film adaptation of Edward Ashton's novel Mickey7 was announced to be in development prior to its publication in January 2022, with Bong Joon Ho writing, directing, and producing for Warner Bros. Pictures and Robert Pattinson in talks to star.[6] Charles Yu wrote additional literary material for the film.[7] Bong was intrigued by the concepts presented in the book, though he made many changes to the characters, including modifying Mickey's personality to be a little more simple minded.[8] He wrote the screenplay in 2021 based on an early draft of the book, and said that none of the characters portrayed were meant to be mirroring active politicians. Robert Pattinson was the first actor to come to mind for a performance that required dual roles, and he agreed immediately to take the role after being offered it.[9] Pattinson improvised many lines as Mickey 18, who starts with an aggressive personality, then grows as a person who wants to protect 17.[10]

Bong storyboarded each sequence before filming.[11] Pattinson helped to revise part of the script to give what Bong described as "humor and knowledge of slang that I would have never come across otherwise." Pattinson also partially based his performance on Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber, citing similar comedic injuries. Bong maintained that he had final cut privilege, though there was a delay in the editing.[12] To differentiate the two main Mickeys, Pattinson changed his accent for each character, comparing them to Ren and Stimpy from the show of the same name. In the initial script reading, he imitated the voices of Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O from Jackass. Bong told him not to do the Steve-O impression.[13]

Pattinson was confirmed to star in May 2022, with Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo joining the cast.[14] In July, Steven Yeun was added to the cast.[15] Tim Key was cast after a phone call, as Bong wanted him specifically for a role.[11] Production began at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden on August 2, 2022,[16] and concluded in December 2022.[17] Filming was finished in January 2023, with the director working on the ideal cut after.[18]

The film's creepers were designed by Bong and Jang Hee-chul, who has been collaborating with Bong to create monsters for his movies since The Host (2006).[19]

Release

[edit]

Mickey 17 premiered at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2025, before opening in South Korea on February 28, 2025, a week before its global rollout.[20][21]

The film was theatrically released in the United States on March 7, 2025, by Warner Bros. Pictures.[22] It was originally scheduled to be released on March 29, 2024, but was taken off the schedule due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[23][24] It was rescheduled for January 31, 2025 (where it would have opened three days earlier in South Korea) but was pushed back to April 18, 2025 to take advantage of Easter weekend and avoid competition with Dog Man, and finally to March 7, 2025, swapping the latter date with Sinners.[25][26][27][22]

Reception

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Box office

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As of March 12, 2025, Mickey 17 has grossed $24.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $34 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $58.6 million.[4][5] With a $118 million production budget and estimated $80 million marketing spend, the film needs to gross $240–300 million worldwide in order to break even.[28][29]

In South Korea, the film opened on February 28, 2025, and scored the highest post-pandemic debut by Warner Bros., grossing $1.7 million and surpassing the record previously set by Pattinson's 2022 film, The Batman.[30] It went on to debut to $9 million in its opening weekend.[31]

In the United States and Canada, Mickey 17 was projected to gross $18–20 million from 3,770 theaters in its opening weekend.[32] It made $7.7 million on its first day, including an estimated $2.5 million from Thursday previews.[33] It went on to debut to $19 million,[34] which Deadline Hollywood described as in-line with original sci-fi films, including Jupiter Ascending ($18.3 million opening in 2015), Ad Astra ($19 million in 2019), and The Creator ($14 million in 2023). Because of the film's budget, the publication also projected that the film would not be immediately profitable for Warner Bros.[28]

Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 77% of 261 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Mickey 17 finds Bong Joon Ho returning to his forte of daffy sci-fi with a withering social critique at its core, proving along the way that you can never have too many Robert Pattinsons."[35] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100, based on 59 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[36] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it 4 out of 5 stars, with 63% saying they would definitely recommend the film.[28]

Mark Ruffalo plays Kenneth Marshall, who critics compared to authoritarian figures.

Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph awarded the film 4 stars out of 5, noting: "As in much of Bong's work, its chop-and-change attitude to genre keeps his audience on their toes. The film veers from slapstick to absurdism to horror and back again, often within a single shot, such as the regular sight of the latest Pattinson clone flopping out of the meat printer with a sausagey flumph."[37] Jacob Oller of The A.V. Club called the film "An unwieldy, long-winded, wildly entertaining sci-fi critique of our dehumanizing present."[38]

A less enthusiastic review came from Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair, who deemed the film a "disappointing follow-up to Parasite", while stating: "Perhaps if Bong had focused on the clone idea, more intricately exploring the corporate world's annihilating treatment of workers, he could have arrived at something rattling, even profound. Alas, he is ultimately too enamored of his wiggly animal creations, and by the broadest of jokes about TV camera-obsessed petty tyrants. In all its diminished attention span, Mickey 17 plays less like a new declaration from a great master and more like a feverish TikTok doom scroll leading nowhere."[39]

Jocelyn Noveck of the Associated Press gave the movie 2 stars out of 4, saying that although having Pattinson's character repeatedly die is an interesting plot-device, and the highlight of the film, that "much of this film devolves into narrative chaos, bloat and excess."[40]

Kenneth Marshall, the spaceship captain and politician played by Mark Ruffalo, has been interpreted by some critics as a caricature of authoritarian leaders.[41][42][43] For instance, Polygon describes Marshall as "a distinctly Trump-like figure whose dangerous associations with religious zealotry and white nationalism are mere avenues to earn political credibility among his base."[44] Director Bong Joon-Ho clarified that Marshall's character is not based on any specific individual but is "a mix of many different politicians" and "dictators that we have seen throughout history."[45]

References

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  1. ^ "Mickey 17 (15)". British Board of Film Classification. January 20, 2025. Archived from the original on January 21, 2025. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  2. ^ "Mickey 17". Berlin International Film Festival. February 15, 2025. Archived from the original on January 18, 2025. Retrieved February 25, 2025. USA, South Korea
  3. ^ Jung, H.-B. (February 22, 2025). 봉준호, 직접 밝힌 '미키 17' 엄청난 제작비 [인터뷰] [Bong Joon-ho, directly revealing the enormous budget of Mickey 17 [Interview]]. Hankook Ilbo. Archived from the original on March 5, 2025. Retrieved March 1, 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Mickey 17". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Mickey 17 (2025) – Financial Information". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  6. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (January 19, 2022). "Bong Joon Ho Sets Next Movie at Warner Bros. With Robert Pattinson in Talks to Star". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on June 19, 2022. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  7. ^ "Mickey 17". Writers Guild of America West. Archived from the original on November 2, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  8. ^ "Interview - 'Mickey 17' Director Bong Joon Ho | POC Culture". February 25, 2025. Archived from the original on February 26, 2025. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  9. ^ Purnell, Kristofer. "'Goofy and incredible': Bong Joon Ho on tapping Robert Pattinson for 'Mickey 17'". Philstar.com. Archived from the original on March 1, 2025. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  10. ^ "[INTERVIEW] Bong Joon-ho explores human resilience with new film 'Mickey 17'". The Korea Times. February 21, 2025. Archived from the original on February 21, 2025. Retrieved March 1, 2025.
  11. ^ a b Garcia, Bella (January 26, 2025). "Mickey 17 Actor Recalls Bong Joon-Ho's Unique Filming Process During Robert Pattinson's Long-Awaited Sci-Fi Movie". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on January 26, 2025. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
  12. ^ Bergeson, Samantha (December 4, 2024). "Robert Pattinson Says Bong Joon Ho Is an 'Unusual' Director: 'Mickey 17' Felt 'So Impossible' to Make at the Start". IndieWire. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
  13. ^ "Robert Pattinson Based His Mickey 17 And 18 Voices On Ren & Stimpy". Empire. October 17, 2024. Archived from the original on November 12, 2024. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
  14. ^ Kroll, Justin (May 20, 2022). "Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette And Mark Ruffalo Join Robert Pattinson In Bong Joon Ho's Next Film At Warner Bros". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  15. ^ Kroll, Justin (July 7, 2022). "Steven Yeun Latest To Join Robert Pattinson In Bong Joon Ho's Next Film At Warner Bros". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 11, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  16. ^ Daniels, Nia (August 2, 2022). "UK shoot gets underway on Bong Joon Ho's Mickey7 starring Robert Pattinson". Kemps Film and TV Production Services Handbook. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  17. ^ Staff, Screen (November 2, 2022). "2022 film and high-end TV productions shooting in the UK: latest updates". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on November 7, 2022. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  18. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 15, 2025). "Why Warner Bros Shook Up Its Feature Exec Ranks As It Braces For An Auteur-Driven 2025 Slate". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 15, 2025. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  19. ^ Weiner, Jonah (March 4, 2025). "The 'Parasite' Director Brings Class Warfare to Outer Space". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 4, 2025. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
  20. ^ Keslassy, Elsa (January 10, 2025). "Bong Joon Ho's 'Mickey 17,' Starring Robert Pattinson, to Premiere at Berlin Film Festival (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on January 10, 2025. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  21. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (January 10, 2025). "Robert Pattinson and Bong Joon-ho's 'Mickey 17' to Premiere in South Korea Ahead of Worldwide Release – Global Bulletin". Variety. Archived from the original on January 11, 2025. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  22. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 27, 2024). "'The Batman' Sequel Heads To 2027, Tom Cruise & Alejandro G. Iñárritu Pic Sets 2026 Release, 'Sinners' & 'Mickey 17' Switch Places". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 27, 2024. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
  23. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (December 5, 2022). "Robert Pattinson and Bong Joon Ho's 'Mickey 17' Gets First Look, 2024 Release Date". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  24. ^ McClintock, Pamela (January 9, 2024). "'Godzilla x Kong' Moves Up Release in Theaters to Late March, 'Mickey 17' Delayed". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  25. ^ Jackson, Angelique (February 20, 2024). "Bong Joon Ho's 'Mickey 17,' Starring Robert Pattinson, Moved to 2025". Variety. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  26. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 13, 2024). "Bong Joon-Ho's 'Mickey 17' Going Earlier In Helmer's South Korea Homeland". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 7, 2024. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  27. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 5, 2024). "Bong Joon Ho's Robert Pattinson Sci-Fi Movie 'Mickey 17' Now Blasting Off Easter Weekend 2025". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 7, 2024. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  28. ^ a b c D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 9, 2025). "Sad Weekend For Lofty Priced, Original Sci-Fi Fare With Mickey 17 Opening To $19M+, But Keep This In Mind… – Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 8, 2025. Retrieved March 9, 2025.
  29. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 5, 2025). "'Mickey 17' Will Be Tricky At Global Box Office With $45M Debut: Weekend Preview". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 6, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  30. ^ Gant, Charles. "'Ne Zha 2' nears $2bn at global box office; 'Mickey 17' is top new title". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on March 4, 2025. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  31. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (March 3, 2025). "Robert Pattinson and Bong Joon Ho's 'Mickey 17' Dominates Korean Box Office". Variety. Archived from the original on March 6, 2025. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  32. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (March 5, 2025). "Box Office: Bong Joon Ho and Robert Pattinson's Mickey 17 Targets $20 Million Debut". Variety. Archived from the original on March 6, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  33. ^ Moreau, Jordan (March 7, 2025). "Box Office: Robert Pattinson's 'Mickey 17' Makes $2.5 Million in Previews". Variety. Archived from the original on March 7, 2025. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  34. ^ "Domestic 2025 Weekend 10". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  35. ^ "Mickey 17". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 10, 2025. Edit this at Wikidata
  36. ^ "Mickey 17". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
  37. ^ Collin, Robbie (February 15, 2025). "Mickey 17: Robert Pattinson is a hangdog delight in this enjoyably mad sci-fi confection". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on February 19, 2025. Retrieved February 26, 2025.
  38. ^ "Wacky, angry, shaggy sci-fi Mickey 17 works its underclass to the clone". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  39. ^ Lawson, Richard (March 5, 2025). "'Mickey 17' Is Like a Bad Clone of 'Snowpiercer'". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on March 6, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  40. ^ NOVECK, JOCELYN. "Movie Review: Always time to die? In 'Mickey 17,' Robert Pattinson just can't manage to stay alive". Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 6, 2025. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  41. ^ Suderman, Peter. "Mickey 17 Is a Misbegotten Sci-Fi Trump Satire". Reason (magazine). Archived from the original on March 10, 2025. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
  42. ^ Pitman, Robert. "Is Mickey 17's Villain A Parody Of Donald Trump?". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on March 10, 2025. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
  43. ^ Woo, Jae-yeon. "Bong, Ruffalo on 'Mickey 17' antagonist: archetypal dictator, not based on real person". Yonhap News Agency. Archived from the original on February 23, 2025. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
  44. ^ Adlakha, Siddhant. "Mickey 17 hits all of Bong Joon Ho's obsessions, from Snowpiercer to Parasite". Polygon (website). Archived from the original on March 10, 2025. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
  45. ^ Wang, Jessica. "Bong Joon Ho says Mark Ruffalo's Mickey 17 villain isn't a Trump parody". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 6, 2025. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
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