Bong Joon-Ho's Parasite Follow-Up Repeats A Surprising Feature Of His Best Picture Oscar Winner

Summary Bong Joon-ho's "Mickey 17" promises to be a trippy sci-fi movie, with Robert Pattinson starring as a man sent to colonize an ice planet.

Mixing humor with drama is a signature style of Bong Joon-ho, similar to his acclaimed film "Parasite," making "Mickey 17" highly anticipated.

Comedy is crucial to balance out the dark plot of "Mickey 17," following in the footsteps of other successful genre-blending sci-fi films.

Bong Joon-ho's upcoming movie, Mickey 17, looks like it will repeat a crucial element of his Best Picture-winning film, Parasite. The revered South Korean director's first film since 2019 is set to release in January 2025, but viewers at CinemaCon 2024 caught an extended preview glimpse. Due to Bong Joon-ho's esteemed reputation worldwide, Mickey 17 is one of the most-anticipated upcoming releases, with an exciting cast of Robert Pattinson, Mark Ruffalo, Steven Yeun, and Toni Collette to back it up.

The film's premise follows a man named Mickey who's sent to colonize an ice planet with the idea that he'll be regenerated mostly intact whenever he dies. The brief footage for the film shows Pattinson as Mickey in some sort of regeneration tube, demonstrating that Mickey 17 will be a trippy sci-fi movie. There's very little to go off of currently without a full trailer released to the public, but everything about the upcoming Bong Joon-ho sci-fi movie implies that it could be an extraordinary release.

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Bong Joon-ho's Mickey 17 Sounds Like It Will Include Comedy (Like Parasite)

Many of Bong Joon-ho's Movies, Including Parasite, Have Mixed Humor With Drama

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Though the CinemaCon footage isn't yet released to the public, information about the new Mickey 17 footage is accessible, and it could potentially be one of Bong Joon-ho's best movies. Reportedly, Robert Pattinson says that he signed on to the project because the script was "one of the funniest, bizarre sci-fi scripts [he's] ever read in [his] life." This is incredibly promising, reflecting on Bong Joon-ho's filmography, particularly Parasite. The Best Picture winner explores serious themes, but it's balanced by a vital levity and elements of dark comedy, the likes of which are perfect for Mickey 17's premise.

Parasite is a dark and thought-provoking movie, but there are dozens of laugh-out-loud comedic moments along the way. This has been Bong Joon-ho's style for years, with similarly hilarious, satirical moments in his crime masterpiece Memories of Murder and his monster movie, The Host. Humor is an essential element of his filmography, and Mickey 17 looks like it will be one of his most exciting installments yet. The talent of an auteur like Bong Joon-ho, mixed with the funding of Warner Bros. and Hollywood, is very promising.

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Why Mickey 17's Comedic Element Is A Pleasant Surprise For The Sci-Fi Movie

Mickey 17 Needs Humor To Balance Out Its Brutal 17 Death Plot

Mickey 17 is a movie about a character who repeatedly dies in order to achieve his goals, a premise that could either be entertaining or unapologetically gruesome. Considering some comparative movies, humor is almost necessary to make this sort of movie work. The Tom Cruise action movie Edge of Tomorrow is a film with a similar premise, and it relies on humor and levity to escort audiences through as Cruise is brutally killed dozens of times. Not to mention, Groundhog Day is one of the best comedy movies of all time, and it could bear some resemblance in plot structure.

Most recently, Poor Things mixed sci-fi elements with bizarre comedy, resulting in an astounding success.

Sci-fi may not seem like an excellent fit for comedy at first glance, but the genre is blended with satire at its core. Many prolific sci-fi novels and classics like Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep, which Blade Runner is based on, embrace the absurd, dark comedy of sci-fi concepts and dystopia. Not only does Bong Joon-ho work to his strengths by adding a humorous tone to Mickey 17, but he's also following in the footsteps of iconic works of science fiction. Most recently, Poor Things mixed sci-fi elements with bizarre comedy, resulting in an astounding success.

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How Comedy Helped Transform Parasite Into An Oscar Winner

Genre-Mixing Was Instrumental To Parasite's Success

Parasite has profoundly dark elements to it, and it's common for darker films to be disregarded by the Academy Awards, let alone foreign cinema. It can't be understated how impactful the comedic elements of Parasite were to its international acclaim, especially following in the footsteps of movies like Get Out, which earned praise for blending horror and comedy. The concept of mixing genres to subvert expectations is popular in modern cinema, as it's harder to phase audiences with story tropes they feel accustomed to. Adding comedy helped make Parasite a unique cinematic experience.

Parasite is streaming on Max.

The idea of original storytelling and creating unique theater-going experiences is vital right now, especially after the success of "Barbenheimer." With stars like Robert Pattinson paired with a Best Picture-winning director, there's a chance Mickey 17 could end up as a commercial hit. In that sense, the esteemed excellence of Parasite is a fantastic model to use. Bong Joon-ho could have another hit on his hands with Mickey 17, with all the information about the film being incredibly promising, especially if it matches Parasite's tone​​​​​​.