We Finally Know Why ‘Mickey 17’ Has Shifted Release Dates Four Times

One of the more intriguing projects set to release this year is Mickey 17, the upcoming space sci-fi thriller starring Robert Pattinson that comes from Bong Joon-ho. Joon-ho most recently directed Parasite, the 2019 smash hit psychological thriller that became the first foreign language film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It’s no secret that Mickey 17 has had a rough go of things for the last few years; the film has since switched release dates four times, originally slated to drop on March 29, 2024. Now confirmed for release on March 7 later this year, a new report from Deadline has provided a peek behind the curtain at exactly what has been going on with Mickey 17, and why it’s taken so long to make it to the big screen.

Deadline reports that the film was finished in January 2023, roughly two years ago, but that Joon-ho and Warner Bros. have been exchanging ideas about what should and shouldn’t go in the final cut, which the director ultimately gets the final say on. The studio has reportedly not been blown away by the reception for the first two trailers for Mickey 17, which have paled in comparison to the trailers for Superman and Minecraft in an audience-interest-gauging metric. Warner Bros. has sunk $80 million into the making of Mickey 17, which also stars Oscar-nominees Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette, and Steven Yeun, meaning it will need close to $200 million to break even. Joon-ho is a tough director to analyze via box office performance, with hits like Parasite at $262 million being scattered in with straight-to-streaming releases like Okja, but Warner Bros. remains hopeful that Mickey 17 can still be a huge profit at the box office.

The Success of ‘Mickey 17’ Relies on Robert Pattinson

Another interesting tidbit in the new report from Deadline is that part of the reason Mickey 17 has been delayed is to give Pattinson, who has been busy with other projects, time to promote the film without fear of scheduling conflicts. Warner Bros. is reportedly planning to drop one final trailer for Mickey 17 between now and the release date to help build anticipation for the film, which could turn into a major financial disaster if audiences don’t show up to theaters to see the star-studded cast on an epic space adventure. The film follows Mickey (Pattinson), an “expendable” who journeys to a treacherous ice planet to colonize new territory, but every time he dies he is reincarnated to begin his mission anew.

Mickey 17 hits theaters on March 7. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates and coverage of the film and watch Joon-ho’s last Oscar-winning outing, Parasite, on Max.

Mickey 17

Director

Bong Joon-ho

Writers

Bong Joon-ho

WATCH ON MAX