The science fiction genre has gained significant critical acclaim in the last decade. From the imaginative storytelling in Annihilation, the innovative costume and set design in The Matrix, and the sociocultural commentary in Snowpiercer, the science fiction genre offers a unique platform for creative work. The upcoming film Mickey 17 demonstrates the breadth and future of the genre. The film centers on a futuristic, semi-dystopian society, an impossible mission, and expendable employees with a warped understanding of their job.

Mickey 17 is the latest production from Oscar-award-winning writer-director Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite, Okja, Snowpiercer, The Host, Barking Dogs Never Bite). Joon-Ho gained critical acclaim for his ability to showcase hard-hitting, relevant themes with his previous work, Parasite, including complex themes of class conflict, social inequality, and wealth disparity. Mickey 17 is likely to delve into similar themes; the dystopian corporation and disposable nature of its employees point to commentary on capitalist society. With a large amount of momentum from the famed director, showrunners, and star-studded cast, Mickey 17 is slated to be a creative, innovative, science-fiction feature.
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Ahead of its anticipated 2024 release, here’s everything we know.

Mickey 17: The Plot

Mickey 17 is a loose adaptation of Mickey 7, a fictional novel published by Edward Ashto. The book’s publisher, St. Martin Press, compared the novel to Andy Weir’s The Martian and Dark Matter, cementing Mickey 7 as a fast-paced, concept-driven, cerebral thriller just like Joon-ho’s previous works.

Mickey 7, the inspiration behind the film, tells the story of the character Mickey7. He is an outcast, downtrodden, disposable employee of a semi-dystopian corporation. While Mickey himself isn’t disposable, his current physical body is; each time an employee dies, a new body is regenerated with most of the original person’s memories intact. Therefore, Mickey7, the protagonist of the novel, is the seventh iteration of his original form. In a way, the workers are immortal in a very fractured way. Mickey1 and other coworkers are tasked with colonizing the ice world Niflheim.

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What began as a conflict between Mickey7 and his seemingly insurmountable task ends up with a deep, cutting personal conflict. To begin, Mickey1 and his coworkers are sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim, and to get there, they all face a tangled web of obstacles. He is tasked with mission after mission, each one culminating in the ultimate goal of colonizing the new terrain. However, as the missions become more dangerous, Mickey7 and his crew members face growing threats to their current clone forms. Mickey7, after six preceding deaths, finally realizes both the cost of their mission and why his job position was unfilled for so long.

Mickey7 is eventually left for dead on a mission gone wrong. After he narrowly survives and returns to base, he discovers the newly-created clone, Mickey8, alive, well, and in Mickey7’s position. Mickey7 refuses to accept the new addition to the crew, and he fights for his spot on the mission he had previously rejected.

While this is a likely premise of the film, Bong Joon-Ho is notorious for adapting literary works with his own unique perspective Mickey 17 is loosely based on its literary predecessor, and it will likely contain the “plot twists” for which Bong Joon-Ho is famous.

Mickey 17: The Cast & Crew

Plan B Entertainment

Robert Pattinson (Twilight, The Batman, The Lighthouse), Steven Yeun (Minari, Nope), Naomi Ackie (I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Star Wars), Toni Collette (Hereditary, Knives Out, Nightmare Alley), and Mark Ruffalo (Avengers) are all confirmed cast members. Pattinson is Mickey Barnes.

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Mickey 17 will be the latest production from Bong Joon-ho, following Oscar award-winning Parasite. The producers include Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner of Plan B Entertainment, Dooho Choi of Kate Street Pictures, Peter Dodd on behalf of Warner Brothers, and writer-director Joon-ho. Plan B Entertainment (Moonlight, Okja, The King, Women Talking), and Joon-ho’s production company, Offscreen, are both producing the film.

Release Date
Mickey 17 is scheduled to premiere on March 29th, 2024 according to Deadline. Notably, Mickey 17 is scheduled for a weekend premiere alongside Sony’s Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse and an untitled film from Universal.

Everything Else We Know

A24

In addition to Bong Joon-Ho’s critical notoriety, Mickey 17 features numerous award-winning film creatives. The complete award-winning team includes Oscar-nominated director of photography Darius Khondji (Okja, Evita), Oscar-nominated production designer Fiona Crombie (The Favorite, Cruella), Oscar-nominated editor Jinno Yang (Parasite), costume designer Catherine George (Okja, Snowpiercer), and visual effects supervisor Dan Glass (The Matrix franchise). This wide assortment of creatives all come from previous cult-following science fiction/horror features, with many of them having worked previously or peripherally with Joon-Ho.

Mickey 17 joins other high-profile Warner Brothers productions scheduled for 2024, including The Lord of The Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, a Mad Max spin-off Furiousa, and Joker: Folie A Deux.