Bong Joon Ho’s ‘Mickey 17’ Sets Berlin Film Festival Premiere

The long-delayed sci-fi comedy will play the Berlinale before opening worldwide on March 7.

After two years of post-production and multiple release date shifts, Bong Joon Ho’s “Mickey 17” has finally announced a premiere.

Bong’s “Parasite” follow up will play at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival in February before opening in theaters around the world on March 7, IndieWire has confirmed. The news was first reported by Variety. The film opens in South Korea on February 28.

Adapted from Edward Ashton’s 2022 sci-fi novel “Mickey7,” “Mickey 17” stars Robert Pattinson as an Expendable who is sent on missions that are deemed too dangerous for humans to risk. In the film, he is sent to colonize a new world known as Niflheim and dies dozens of times in the process. Pattinson plays multiple doomed iterations of Mickey in the film, and his “Ren & Stimpy”-inspired voices were a frequent topic of conversation after the trailer dropped in September.

In addition to Pattinson, the film stars Mark Ruffalo, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Naomi Ackie. 

The prospect of Bong following his historic “Parasite” Oscar win with an English-language project starring Pattinson has made “Mickey 17” one of the most talked-about projects in Hollywood. But despite the initial excitement, the film has changed release dates multiple times. The film underwent a lengthy post-production process after wrapping its shoot in December 2022, and was originally scheduled for a March 2024 release. Warner Bros. then pushed the film to January 31, 2025, then moved it to April 18, before moving it back again to March 7.

Many speculated that the delays were a result of creative disagreements between Bong and Warner Bros., though the auteur confirmed in a recent interview with Empire that he had final cut on the version being released.

“With ‘Okja’ and now ‘Mickey 17,’ I was given the final cut as part of my deal. The studio respected my final cut rights,” Bong said.  “Of course, during the editing process there are many opinions and many discussions that happen. But this film is my cut, and I’m very happy about it. It was a long process, but it was always smooth and respectful.”

IndieWire has reached out to the Berlin International Film Festival for comment.

Additional reporting by Brian Welk.