It’s been five years now since Bong Joon Ho released his last feature, the Oscar-dominating Parasite – making for the longest gap in his filmography to date. That’s not surprising, since his breakout genre-mashing thriller took on such a life of its own, and opened all kinds of new doors for what might come next. Director Bong settled on Mickey 17, his Robert Pattinson-starring adaptation of Edward Ashton’s sci-fi novel Mickey7, heading into major Hollywood studio territory with Warner Bros. Originally, the film was slated to arrive back in March this year, before being was delayed to 2025 – and reports had it that the reason for the hold-up was a wrangle with the studio over what cut of the film would see the light of day.
It wouldn’t be the first time – Director Bong famously wrestled with Harvey Weinstein over the cut of his first English-language film Snowpiercer. But, as he tells Empire in our world-exclusive Mickey 17 issue, he has indeed got final cut on his latest film, and that’s how it always was. “With Okja and now Mickey 17, I was given the final cut as part of my deal,” he explains. “The studio respected my final cut rights.” Which isn’t to say there wasn’t some back and forth. “Of course, during the editing process there are many opinions and many discussions that happen,” he continues. “But this film is my cut, and I’m very happy about it. It was a long process, but it was always smooth and respectful.”
Between Snowpiercer and Okja, it’s clear that when Director Bong moves into English-language mode, he doesn’t make any attempt to temper down his wonderfully wild instincts. Which, according to Robert Pattinson, is the same on Mickey 17. “It’s really cool that a studio has done this film,” the star tells Empire, “and that Bong pushed to have the final cut on it — to make something that does feel incredibly unusual.” Get ready for another pure, uncut slice of Bong Joon Ho.
Read Empire’s full Mickey 17 feature – speaking to Bong Joon Ho, Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun and Naomi Ackie about their oddball sci-fi odyssey – in the December 2024 issue, on sale Thursday 24 October. Pre-order a copy online here. Mickey 17 comes to UK cinemas from 31 January.