Bong Joon-ho's new film Mickey 17 premieres at the Berlinale

After the success of Parasite in 2019, the return of the South Korean director, repeatedly postponed, will be one of the cinema events of the year.

Big winner of the Palme d’Or 2019 in Cannes with Parasite, Bong Joon-ho is the first South Korean director to win this award. It is also the first non-English-speaking feature film to win an Oscar for best film. Since then, five years have passed without the filmmaker returning to the big screen. Mickey 17 marks its return, with Robert Pattinson headlining, accompanied by Naomi Ackie, Mark Ruffalo, Steven Yeun and Toni Collette. According to Varietythe world premiere is planned for the Berlinale, which will take place from February 13 to 23, 2025.

If Parasite dealt with social inequalities in South Korea, the director returns here to science fiction. Mickey is a so-called “disposable” employee within a team of astronauts exploring a frozen planet. As soon as he dies, his body is regenerated, making room for a new version of him. In the novel that inspired Bong Joon-ho, Mickey7 by Edouard Ashton, the character only knows a seventh version. Robert Pattinson will die ten more times, which promises a film that is both funny and chilling. The director had already dabbled with the genre with the monstrous creature of The Host (2006) and the well-known Snowpiercer (2013). Mickey 17 also marks the director's return to Hollywood, eight years later Okja (produced by Netflix).

Since the announcement of its release initially scheduled for March 2024, Mickey 17 kept getting pushed back. In South Korea, the date set is February 28. In France, you will normally have to wait until March 5. The screening at this year's Berlinale would then be its very first broadcast, even if a potential premiere is possible beforehand in the director's country of origin, specifies Variety.