Bong Joon-ho proved to be Bong Joon-ho. The movie 'Mickey 17' (directed by Bong Joon-ho) went straight to the top of the box office on its opening day. According to the Korean Film Council's integrated computer network, 'Mickey 17' attracted 248,056 viewers on the 28th of last month. The cumulative number of viewers is 254,405.
It ranks first for opening scores among films released in theaters this year, surpassing 'Black Nuns' (153,727 viewers), 'Captain America 4' (123,237 viewers), and 'Hitman' (100,621 viewers). The opening day audience number also surpasses the 9th highest box office film, 'Spring of Seoul' (203,813 viewers). 'Mickey 17' is maintaining its number one pre-sale rate.
'Mickey 17' is an SF blockbuster. It tells the story of a replicant (played by Robert Pattinson) sent to colonize an ice planet, who is reborn each time he dies while carrying out dangerous missions. This is director Bong Joon-ho's first Hollywood movie. It used the highest production cost in history for a Korean director's work, amounting to approximately 118 million dollars (about 170 billion won).
The overall rating for 'Mickey 17' is high, scoring 90% on the GCV Golden Egg Index. It received a score of 8.09 out of 10 on Naver and 3.7 out of 5 on Watcha Pedia.
The consensus is that it's exceptionally Bong Joon-ho. It blends a profound message within the science fiction narrative. Replicants are treated merely as expendables, and there's no remorse even in the brutal biological experiments.
Director Bong presents melodrama for the first time in his 25-year career. The love story of Mickey and Nasha (played by Naomi Ackie) added emotion to the heavy storyline of 'Mickey 17'. As of 11 a.m. on the 1st, 'Mickey 17' has a real-time reservation rate of 59.5%. It's ranked first. It has already sold 268,331 tickets, being ten times higher than the second place 'Captain America 4' (5.8%).
Meanwhile, on that day, the second in the box office ranking is 'Captain America 4' (directed by Julius Onah) with 23,551 viewers. 'The Exorcism' (directed by Kim Dong-cheol, 15,060 viewers) is in third place.
<Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Korea>
