Joon-ho is expected to combine dark humor with serious and thought-provoking concepts, much as in any of his previous films.
Robert Pattinson portrays Mickey in Mickey 17, a low-ranking crew member on a spacecraft who is given a dangerous mission that entails dying and then being cloned several times while keeping the memories of his past incarnations.
The movie is based on the 2022 science fiction book Mickey7 by Edward Ashton. Antimatte Blues is the title of its sequel.
Bong Joon-Ho called the movie a "capitalist tragedy" in an interview with the LA Times, teasing the sci-fi notion of a worker being replaced when another departs. Even with its sorrowful themes, Joon-ho considers it his funniest movie.
Newly released Mickey 17 has already created a buzz due to its villain, portrayed by Mark Ruffalo, resembling current US President Donald Trump.
There have been speculations as to the character Kenneth Marshall being a comment on or a parody of Trump. However, the film's director, Bong Joon-Ho, has finally addressed these speculations.
According to the South Korean filmmaker, who drew inspiration from a variety of historical tyrants rather than a single person, that's just your own interpretation. Robert Pattinson is an eternally cloned crew member of a spacecraft whose duty it is to repeatedly die for study in Mickey 17, which is based on the 2022 book by Edward Ashton.
Ahead of Mickey 17's March 7, 2025, release, Joon-ho told Entertainment Weekly that Ruffalo's antagonistic character was based on "a mix of many different politicians and dictators that we have seen throughout history," which means that although he may have a lot in common with the current U.S. president in terms of speech and demeanor, he wasn't drawn directly from Trump.
He said: "When we showed the film in Berlin and talked to people from many different countries, it seemed like people were projecting the most stressful political leader onto the character of Marshall"
Marshall is married to Gwen (Toni Collette) in the movie, and according to the director of Parasite, the two of them are "more ridiculous and more insane" than anyone in a position of authority at the moment.
"They move as a couple. To me, that was quite important," he remarked.
He added: "So think about the Ceaușescu couple from Romania and the Marcos couple from the Philippines. It's always very uncanny when dictators move as couples. It makes them even more ridiculous and more terrifying. And it's true love that [the characters] have."
A brief synopsis of 'Mickey 17'
Joon-ho is expected to combine dark humor with serious and thought-provoking concepts, much as in any of his previous films.
Pattinson portrays Mickey in Mickey 17, a low-ranking crew member on a spacecraft who is given a dangerous mission that entails dying and then being cloned several times while keeping the memories of his past incarnations.
The movie is based on the 2022 science fiction book Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton. Antimatte Blues is the title of its sequel.
Joon-ho called the movie a "capitalist tragedy" in an interview with the LA Times, teasing the sci-fi notion of a worker being replaced when another departs. Even with its sorrowful themes, Joon-ho considers it his funniest movie.
He said: "I think in real life, humans are just funny creatures. No matter how harsh or depressing reality can get, people always manage to have a laugh. We’re just these goofy, ridiculous creatures, always making the same mistakes."
The "light touch" with which Joon-ho photographed a "montage of grotesque deaths" is mentioned by Pattinson in the same interview.
He said: "There’s something so playful and almost childlike — it inspires a lot of trust in him."
John Carpenter's The Thing and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner have been cited by Joon-ho as major influences on several of the design decisions, including the spaceship's appearance and the movie's overall style.
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