Bong Joon

Here's a film I didn't expect to be test-screened this early.

Bong Joon-ho's "Mickey 17," which is only set to be released next March, is going to be test-screened next Thursday. This has got to be a very rough cut of the film, with unfinished CGI and effects.

"Mickey 17" stars Robert Pattinson and is an adaptation of Edward Ashton's recently published novel. Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo also co-star.

A teaser was released earlier this year and so was a March 29th, 2024 release date attached to it. Unless that date changes, the only festival premiere it could be aiming for is maybe Berlin next February. Otherwise, it sounds like Warner Bros won't be gunning for awards with this one. Which is perfectly fine.

Production on "Mickey17" began in the UK back in August and was completed in late December. Just reading about this film, one can imagine that there will be a lot of post-production VFX, which could explain why "Mickey 17" is only being released next year.

The novel's official synopsis:

The story follows Mickey17, an Expendable, a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever there's a mission that's too dangerous—even suicidal—the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact. After six deaths, Mickey7 understands the terms of his deal…and why it was the only colonial position unfilled when he took it.

This is set to be Bong's first film since his 2019 Cannes and Oscar-winning "Parasite." The South Korean auteur is also know as the filmmaker behind critically-acclaimed films such as "Snowpiercer," "Mother" "The Host" and "Memories of Murder."

Meanwhile, Pattinson continues to amass the A-list auteur directors in his filmography having already worked with Cronenberg, Herzog, Gray, Safdie, Denis, Eggers, and Nolan.