Director Bong Joon-ho describe Mickey 17 as 'a very human sc-fi- film'
Director Bong Joon-ho and lead star Robert Pattinson have spoken at length about their upcoming sci-fi film 'Mickey 17'.
Director Bong Joon-ho has described the Robert Pattinson-starring 'Mickey 17' as a "very human sci-fi film".
The ‘Parasite’ filmmaker has provided a new description of the upcoming flick – which also stars Mark Ruffalo, Steven Yeun and Naomi Ackie – branding it “a new kind of sci-fi that is overflowing with human scent.”
Speaking at a press conference in Seoul on Monday (20.01.25), Joon-ho said: “'Mickey 17' is a sci-fi film as we commonly know them, but at the same time, it's a very human sci-fi [film] filled with [a] human scent.
"It's the story of Mickey, a plain, powerless and pitiful young man played by Robert Pattinson. It's a new kind of sci-fi that is overflowing with human scent."
Pattinson admitted he found portraying his titular character’s sense of humour “quite hard”.
He spilled: "The script is very funny. My first read of it seemed deceptively simple. It's crazy and it's funny. It's a really quick read.
"But then when you try and break down the actual mentality of why he is the way he is, it gets very complicated very quickly. And even trying to play the humour of it was quite hard, because he's a character who has a total lack of self-confidence, but he doesn't feel sorry for himself."
However, he came up with a unique way to channel that humour after Mickey reminded him of a "really badly behaved dog" he once owned.
Pattinson explained: "I had a lot of different inspirations. My main one was, I thought I was playing a dog. I used to have this really badly behaved dog, and I'd try to train it.
"And I kind of thought that's sort of what Mickey is like, because no one can really punish him. No level of punishment ever makes a change. It requires literally dying 17 times to realise that maybe he'd ruined his life, and then study different ways."
Joon-ho insists the ‘Twilight’ star was his first choice for the job.
He said: "Robert Pattinson has shown amazing performances not only as a superhero in 'The Batman' (2022) but also in 'Good Time' (2017) and 'The Lighthouse' (2019). I had consistently been interested in him because he acts so well, and while writing the screenplay for 'Mickey 17,' the actor had two roles, 17 and 18. He had to portray the somewhat foolish and pitiful 17 and the unpredictable and strangely charismatic 18. I thought of Rob from the beginning.”
The movie is inspired by Edward Ashton's 2022 novel 'Mickey7' and follows Mickey Barnes (Pattinson) who is a disposable employee, known as an "expendable", on an expedition to colonise the ice planet Niflheim. If Mickey dies a new body is regenerated with the majority of his memories intact.
The synopsis reads: "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.
"Mickey understands the terms of his deal... and why it was the only colonial position unfilled when he took it."
