We now have to wait until January next year to see Parasite director Bong Joon-ho’s highly-anticipated sci-fi project, Mickey 17.
When we learned in January that Warner Bros had removed Mickey 17 from its March release slot, there was plenty of speculation about when we’d actually get to see the film.
Talk mostly focused on possible reasons for the film’s delay: some speculated that it was to keep Mickey 17 clear of Dune: Part II, Warner Bros’ other huge upcoming sci-fi movie directed by an auteur filmmaker. If you recall, the studio pushed that project into March because of last year’s strikes.
There was also talk that (due to those very same strikes) post-production CGI work was taking longer than planned and given that the film is directed by awards darling Bong Joon-ho, the notion was floated that a May 2024 release would allow the film to make a splashy premiere at Cannes. Over a month since removing the film from its release schedule, Warner Bros has once again dated Mickey 17 for release. However, the film won’t hit cinemas in May 2024. In fact, it won’t even hit cinemas at all in 2024.
That’s right, Mickey 17 won’t release until January of next year.
Crikey. That’s a full ten months later than planned and a delay that nobody really saw coming.
According to Variety, that new date gives the film a solid IMAX run on those all-important premium format screens. We suppose January places the film right into the Oscars conversation too, but the month is also notorious for being the stretch on the release calendar where films can fail to register at the box office.
The film, which features a stellar cast comprising Robert Pattinson, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, Steven Yeun and Naomi Ackie, is thought to have been hit by various production delays due to last year’s strikes. Its story ‘follows Mickey, a disposable employee sent to colonise an ice world, who soon realises that his body can regenerate after death but with his memories still preserved.’
We don’t know about you, but our cornflakes suddenly don’t taste so great this morning. We suppose we’re going to have to adopt a delayed gratification mindset when it comes to Mickey 17. At least the film is only 324 days away, right? Not that we’re counting or anything…
Read more: Parasite review | A flat-out must-see film
