Oscar-Winning Director’s Film: The Wildest Facts You Didn’t Know—Featuring Brad Pitt

With just four days left until its release, one film is already making waves with an overwhelming advance ticket sales rate. That film is none other than Mickey 17, the highly anticipated new work from Korea’s “10-million director” Bong Joon-ho.

According to the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) on February 24, Mickey 17 has recorded an astonishing 52.4% ticket reservation rate, crushing its competition. It has already sold 138,000 advance tickets, far surpassing the current box office leader, Captain America: Brave New World (5.4%). Despite the slow season for theaters, the film is showing unprecedented blockbuster potential.

Bong Joon-ho’s Long-Awaited Return with a $118M Hollywood Sci-Fi

Marking Bong Joon-ho’s first feature film in six years since Parasite, Mickey 17 is a Hollywood sci-fi epic boasting a staggering $118 million budget (₩1.7 trillion KRW). Based on Edward Ashton’s novel Mickey7, the film follows a "disposable human" named Mickey, who is sent on a space colonization mission where he repeatedly dies and is regenerated for high-risk tasks.

The movie stars Robert Pattinson, Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Ackie, and Steven Yeun, forming an A-list ensemble. While inspired by the novel, Bong Joon-ho has significantly reimagined the story, using Mickey’s cycle of death and rebirth to explore capitalism, exploitation, and class struggles. Expanding Mickey7 to Mickey17, the director delves even deeper into questions of human identity in an era of AI, cloning, and space colonization.

Facts You Didn’t Know: Brad Pitt’s Role in Mickey 17

Mickey 17 isn’t just a Bong Joon-ho film—it also has Hollywood powerhouse Brad Pitt behind the scenes. The film is executive produced by Brad Pitt, along with Jesse Ehrman, Peter Dodd, and Marianne Jenkins. Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment—the company behind Moonlight and 12 Years a Slave—is one of the lead production companies, alongside Kate Street Picture Company’s Dooho Choi and Bong Joon-ho’s Offscreen, Inc.

In addition to its A-list cast, Mickey 17 boasts an award-winning crew:

Producers: Oscar winners Dede Gardner & Jeremy Kleiner (Moonlight, 12 Years a Slave), Bong Joon-ho, and Dooho Choi (Okja, Snowpiercer)

Cinematography: Oscar nominee Darius Khondji (Okja)

Production Design: Oscar nominee Fiona Crombie (The Favourite)

Editing: Oscar nominee Jin-mo Yang (Parasite)

Costume Design: Catherine George (Okja, Snowpiercer)

VFX Supervision: Dan Glass (The Matrix franchise)

Music: Jae-il Jung (Parasite, Squid Game)

With Brad Pitt’s production team driving the project and Bong Joon-ho’s visionary storytelling, Mickey 17 is set to be one of the most anticipated sci-fi films of the year.

Mixed Global Reactions—Korean Audiences Show Stronger Support

Mickey 17 had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, receiving polarized reactions. While BBC rated it a low 40/100, the Korean press screening on February 17 was met with overwhelming praise. The film’s character-driven storytelling resonated particularly well with local audiences, setting it apart from conventional CGI-heavy sci-fi blockbusters. Critics noted that while it carries Bong’s signature dark humor, social commentary, and political satire, it also offers a deeply human story at its core.

Set aboard the spaceship Draka, led by dictator Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), the story unfolds on a newly discovered planet, Niflheim. The protagonist, Mickey, is designated as an "Expendable"—a worker who repeatedly dies and is resurrected via memory transfer to perform life-threatening tasks. Over 17 cycles of death and rebirth, he begins to uncover the dark secrets behind the mission, leading to a battle for survival and autonomy.

Bong Joon-ho & Hollywood Stars Meet Korean Fans

On February 20, a special fan event was held at Megabox COEX and CGV Yongsan I’Park Mall, where Bong Joon-ho was joined by Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Mark Ruffalo, and producer Choi Doo-ho. The director encouraged audiences to “fully immerse themselves in the theatrical experience,” while Mark Ruffalo expressed his deep admiration for Bong, saying, “It was an absolute honor to work with him.”

Bong Joon-ho’s Legacy—A Director Who Redefined Korean Cinema

Bong Joon-ho has built a reputation as one of Korea’s most visionary filmmakers. Since his debut with Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000), he has delivered back-to-back cinematic masterpieces, including Memories of Murder (2003), The Host (2006), Mother (2009), Snowpiercer (2013), Okja (2017), and Parasite (2019).

With Parasite, he made history as the first Korean director to win at the SAG Awards, the Palme d’Or at Cannes and four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. His ability to blend genre filmmaking with sharp social critique has cemented his status as one of the world’s most influential directors.

Korea to Premiere Mickey 17 Before the World—A Strategic Move by Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. has chosen to release Mickey 17 in Korea first on February 28, a full week ahead of its North American premiere on March 7. This move highlights Bong Joon-ho’s immense box office power in Korea, where his past films have all performed exceptionally well—Snowpiercer drew 9.35 million viewers, and Parasite exceeded 10.31 million.

With nearly 200,000 pre-sales expected before opening day, Mickey 17 is already shaping up to be a major cinematic event. As Bong Joon-ho famously said at the 2020 Oscars, “The most personal is the most creative.” Now, fans worldwide eagerly await to see what deeply personal and thought-provoking vision he has brought to life this time.