Bong Joon-ho's Mickey 17 becomes fastest film to surpass 2 million viewers at Korean Box Office in 2025

On March 9, 2025, Maeil Business Newspaper reported that Bong Joon-ho's latest film, Mickey 17, had attracted two million viewers in Korea, setting a new record just 10 days after its release.

According to the integrated computer network of the Korea Film Council, Mickey 17 recorded 2,001,220 viewers as of 11:33 AM local time on March 9, 2025. This achievement solidifies Bong Joon-ho's film as the fastest to reach two million viewers in 2025, showing its unparalleled box-office dominance.

With a nine-day streak at the top of the box office, the film's unstoppable success, fueled by strong word-of-mouth, is expected to continue.

The sci-fi dark comedy, directed by Bong Joon-ho, is adapted from Edward Ashton's novel, Mickey 7. It stars Robert Pattinson as the titular character, alongside Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo. The story revolves around an "expendable" who joins a space colony where a disposable worker is cloned every time he dies for research purposes.

The film had its world premiere at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2025. It subsequently debuted in South Korean theaters on February 28, 2025, a week before its global release.

In South Korea, the film made a strong debut, achieving the highest post-pandemic opening for Warner Bros., grossing $1.7 million. It also surpassed the previous record held by The Batman, which was released in 2022. Additionally, Mickey 17 saw a notable surge, grossing $9 million.

In an interview with the Korea Times in February 2025, Bong Joon-ho shared that his film explores the resilience of human nature and its ability to persist even under the most challenging circumstances. He said:

"Mickey faces harsh conditions and contempt, but at the end of the film, he remains unbroken. That's the message I wanted to convey. I hope it offers a small consolation to those who watch the film."

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More about Bong Joon-ho and his previous works

Bong Joon-ho is renowned for exploring social and class themes, dark humor, genre-blending, and abrupt tonal shifts in his works. His feature directorial debut, Barking Dogs Never Bite, released in 2000, gained a cult following.

The film, which centers on a university lecturer who kidnaps a neighbor's dog, initially received minimal commercial attention. However, positive critical reviews and word of mouth eventually contributed to its financial success.

He achieved widespread critical acclaim with films such as Memories of Murder (2003), The Host (2006), Snowpiercer (2013), Okja (2017), and Parasite (2019). The latter three rank among South Korea's highest-grossing films, with Parasite becoming the country's highest-grossing film of all time.

Although primarily associated with South Korean productions, Bong Joon-ho has collaborated on Hollywood co-productions such as Snowpiercer, Okja, and Mickey 17. He made history with Parasite as the first South Korean film to win Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.

He also received the award for Best Director for the film. Additionally, Parasite went down in history as the first non-English language film to win the Best Picture Award at the Academy Awards.

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Bong Joon-ho, recognized for his influential work, was named one of the 25 best film directors of the 21st century by Metacritic in 2017. He was also included in Time's 100 Most Influential People and Bloomberg's Bloomberg 50 list in 2020.