In 2014, Robert Pattinson will star in Bong Joon-ho’s upcoming sci-fi movie Mickey 17. The star of The Batman has recently taken on a plethora of intriguing roles, from his voice work in The Boy and the Heron to his performance in The Lighthouse. That said, Pattinson’s team-up with the Oscar-winning Parasite director is exciting in its own right. However, Mickey 17 also marks Pattinson’s return to science-fiction. With 2024’s most anticipated sci-fi film is a whopping five years in the making, it’s about time Mickey 17 makes its debut.
Based on the 2022 novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton, Mickey 17 is being adapted for the screen by Bong Joon-ho, who previously helmed sci-fi hits like Snowpiercer and Okja. Pattinson will be joined by an all-star ensemble cast for Mickey 17, which includes Emmy-winner Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo. In the film, Pattinson plays a so-called “expendable” — a disposable employee whose physical form can regenerate — who’s sent to help colonize an ice planet. That said, Mickey 17‘s success could also redeem the actor’s most underrated sci-fi role.
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High Life Proves Robert Pattinson Is Perfectly Cast For Mickey 17
In Mickey 17, if an expendable dies, its new body regenerates with most of its former self’s memories intact. The very premise — a disposable worker who keeps being revived after traumatic events — makes Mickey 17 out to be a sci-fi film with elements of a horror movie or psychological thriller. In the past, Pattinson has proved that he has the range to take on all sorts of roles, but his approach to emotionally-driven sci-fi is perhaps best showcased in 2018’s High Life, a thrilling deep-space drama directed by Claire Denis.
Robert Pattinson plays Monte, one of a number of criminals who are serving their death sentences by working on a dangerous space mission. The goal of the mission is to extract an alternative energy source from a black hole, though Juliette Binoche’s Dr. Dibs has other intentions. A criminal herself, Dr. Dibs is obsessed with creating a child in space through artificial insemination. High Life takes several incredibly dark turns; eventually, Monte is the only surviving prisoner, which means he’s tasked with raising the baby Dibs created through violent, savage means.
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High Life Deserved A Bigger Audience In 2018
After premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), High Life went on to receive rave reviews from critics. Despite its difficult material, the film interrogates human nature — and how little it’s really changed. Whether on Earth or in the far-flung regions of space, humans will go to terrible extremes in order to satisfy their needs and wants. Despite the sci-fi story at the center of the film, High Life is an incredibly character-driven, emotional film. Pattinson gives one of his most restrained, nuanced performances to date, especially when he’s capturing Monte’s resigned loneliness.
As one review puts it, Denis uses a story about a few isolated people to discuss and distill the entire human experience (via Deep Focus Review). Of course, that’s something the best sci-fi stories do; High Life is certainly an under-the-radar master of its genre. Unfortunately, even with a big-name movie star like Pattinson as its lead, the sci-fi film didn’t have the reach of its blockbuster peers like The Martian or Interstellar. While that’s not necessarily surprising given its approach, its challenging narrative is exactly why High Life deserves a bigger audience now.
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Mickey 17 Can Do What High Life Couldn’t For Robert Pattinson’s Sci-Fi Credentials
Even if it didn’t get the mainstream attention it so deserved, High Life is a sci-fi arthouse movie that elevated its genre. That legacy is indisputable, but it would still be wonderful to see High Life get its flowers even half a decade after its initial release. Mickey 17 has the potential to encourage viewers to seek out Robert Pattinson’s other films; of all the actor’s past works, High Life definitely resonates the most with Mickey 17. Genre aside, both movies delve into the nature of what it means to be human.
Since Pattinson’s Mickey 17 character is essentially immortal, the movie will likely tackle the kind of loneliness that comes with such a life — if it can even be called that. With Pattinson’s oft-cloned character retaining his memories no matter his body, Mickey 17 also digs into the morality of emulating someone’s consciousness. Although High Life interrogates a different dark side of humanity, the two films have some clear overlap. Given Oscar-winner Bong Joon-ho’s broader appeal, Mickey 17 will do what High Life simply couldn’t for Pattinson’s sci-fi credentials.
Mickey 17
- Director:
- Bong Joon-ho
- Cast:
- Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, Holliday Grainger
- Writers:
- Bong Joon-ho
- Rating:
- Not Yet Rated
- Main Genre:
- Sci-Fi
- Genres:
- Sci-Fi
- Summary:
- Adapted from the novel by Edward Ashton, Mickey 7 is a Sci-Fi film that follows Mickey 17 (Robert Pattinson) and his journey to the ice world Niflheim to colonize the planet. Mickey 17 is an “expendable” employee to be used and thrown away after completing their task – often a dangerous one – but when one iteration of Mickey dies, he is reborn in a new body with a large portion of his memories still intact. After six deaths, however, Mickey finally begins to understand the job and why it was always an unfilled position.
- Story By:
- Edward Ashton
- Characters By:
- Edward Ashton
- Cinematographer:
- Darius Khondji
- Producer:
- Bong Joon-ho, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Dooho Choi
- Production Company:
- Offscreen, Plan B Entertainment, Kate Street Picture Company
- Main Characters :
- Mickey Barnes, Nasha, Berto, Gwen, Heironymous Marshall
- Distributor :
- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Assistant Director :
- Ben Howard
