It’s fair to say that Warner Bros has absolutely no idea how to position “Mickey 17” on their release calendar. Bong Joon-ho must be frustrated by the constant shifts in scheduling.
Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” and Bong’s “Mickey 17” have just swapped release dates. ‘Mickey’ is now looking at a March 7, 2025 theatrical launch. ‘Sinners’ will be released on April 18.
That’s the third 2025 date ‘Mickey’ has received. It was originally supposed to come out on January 31. At the very beginning, Warners had positioned it for March 29, 2024 — what happened?
“Mickey 17” has been test screened at least four times since the fall of 2023. Reactions have been all over the place. There have also been reshoots, but a specific date has not ever been confirmed.
The film started production in the summer of 2022. A recent report from Variety claimed Warners was not “pumped” about the film’s prospects, at least when compared to the rest of their 2024/2025 slate. When contacted for comment, a Warner rep denied and insisted: “There is, of course, enthusiasm for it.”
“Mickey 17” cost $150M to produce. The test screening reactions for this one have been all over the place. Yet, this is Bong’s first film since his 2019 Palme d’Or & Oscar winning “Parasite,” and he’s assembled a great castfor it, including Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo.
I still maintain that the best way to launch this film would have been at Cannes, which was originally Bong’s plan, but Warners seems to have not listened.