Robert Pattinson's New Movie With Bong Joon Ho Must Be a Banger: 'MICKEY 17' Drops Trippy Teaser More Than A Year Out From Release

Matt Fitzgerald12/06/2022 4:10 PM

Once Robert Pattinson signed his first-look deal with Warner Bros. last May, I was pretty hyped up. The man was crushing it on the indie scene for years following his star-making role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight franchise. Now, he's returned to more blockbuster fare with Tenet and, of course, The Batman.

Pattinson's unique odyssey of a career meant he was going to bring something a little different to the table than most A-listers once he committed to WB the way that he did. Pair him up with Oscar-winning Parasite writer-director Bong Joon Ho, and you get this new, seemingly mesmerizing sci-fi film Mickey 17.

The story synopsis featured above sounds like some sort of a Moon and Blade Runner hybrid. I can't help but see the 2001: A Space Odyssey vibes/homage in the teaser itself too, a la the clips below. Still hard to believe this groundbreaking Stanley Kubrick masterpiece hit theaters in 1968.

I mean those comparisons to such renowned movies as the highest compliment. Based on the decorated filmmaker's penchant for pulling off mind-blowing twists (see: Parasite, Snowpiercer and others), I think we're really in for a complex, thematically substantive narrative, anchored by yet another sort of bizarro, unpredictable Pattinson performance. He'll perhaps be playing some sort of replicant/clone type character, presumably the 17th iteration of said character going off the title. Super weird. I like super weird.

Warner Bros. has experienced some turbulence due to obvious COVID-related reasons, the merger with Discovery and mismanagement of their big DC movie properties over recent years. Pattinson's Batman was a big hit and among the massive productions most impacted by the pandemic. In between turns donning the cape and cowl, though, he'll be spearheading Mickey 17 among other projects, which is great to see.

Given all those aforementioned issues at WB, the fact that the studio is already releasing a teaser for the Bong-Pattinson collaboration, they must feel extremely confident in the story they're cooking up. That alone has me even more intrigued than I already was. Helps to have a killer supporting cast featuring the likes of Toni Collette, Steven Yeun, Naomie Ackie and Mark Ruffalo.

If he's proven nothing else as an actor, Robert Pattinson has about as big of a range as anyone in his general age ballpark. He seems like one of the goofiest people ever when you hear him do interviews, and yet it seems like he has this austere, art-forward approach to the projects he chooses. He could've just coasted on the Twilight movies in perpetuity. Instead, he kept pushing himself, taking interesting roles and risks, and forged his own unique path back to the top of the Hollywood pecking order.

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