Warner Bros has dated Mickey 17 for Jan. 31, 2025 — a very odd date for a highly anticipated follow-up from Oscar and Cannes Palme d’Or winning Parasite filmmaker Bong Joon-ho.
What’s key about the date is that Warner Bros will have Imax, furthermore next January is starving for wide releases. But the reason why the studio went with this date is to play off Lunar New Year in South Korea.
The title is a major part of Warner Bros.’ CinemaCon presentation this year.
Originally, Mickey 17 was to go on March 29, shortly after Dune: Part Two this year but the strikes pushed the movie. We kept hearing it wasn’t ready. Still that didn’t stop everyone from panting that the sci-fi feature could hit Cannes. There were never any plans for the movie to go to Cannes.
While a Jan. 31 theatrical release indicates this movie likely won’t be teed off for the 2024 Oscar season, an awards push could still be in the mix. The studio is testing Mickey 17 in the coming weeks. Currently on Jan. 31 is Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Dog Man.
There were five wide releases in January this year — and by the looks of next year, we could use more.
In addition to Dog Man and Mickey 17, there’s Universal/Blumhouse’s The Woman in the Yard on Jan. 10, then Sony’s Paddington in Peru and an Amazon MGM Jason Statham action title over MLK. If we believe in box office and theatrical, and consistent moviegoing, well then the business is going to need more.
Mickey17 is based on Edward Ashton’s novel Mickey7. The book follows Mickey7, who is an Expendable: a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever there’s a mission that’s too dangerous —even suicidal — the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact. After six deaths, Mickey7 understands the terms of his deal…and why it was the only colonial position unfilled when he took it.
In addition to Robert Pattinson, the movie stars Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo. Producers of the project are Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Joon-Ho, and Dooho Choi.