TPO – “Mickey 17” marks director Bong Joon Ho’s return to the big screen after the blockbuster “Parasite”. However, experts say the film has yet to surpass the shadow of its previous Oscar-winning work. Its opening box office revenue was also not very impressive.
On March 7, Mickey 17 officially premiered in North America. However, the opening box office of director Bong Joon Ho ‘s film was not very impressive.
According to The Numbers , the sci-fi comedy grossed $7.7 million in March 7 and previews from 3,807 theaters in North America.
Variety estimates that figure to be enough to meet its $18 million-plus opening weekend forecast in North America. However, it’s a slow start for a film that cost $118 million to produce. Add in marketing and distribution costs, and Mickey 17 could struggle to break even on its $275 million global box office haul.
At the international box office, the film earned $18.7 million, of which the Korean market accounted for $9 million. In total, Mickey 17’s global box office revenue was $26.4 million.
Mickey 17 leads the box office on March 7, but the revenue is not very impressive.
After its release, Mickey 17 pushed Captain America: Brave New World down to second place. However, with the current situation, the Marvel superhero blockbuster quickly regained the box office throne, although its performance decreased sharply every week.
In terms of quality, Mickey 17 is not exactly a slam dunk. The reviews have been generally positive. The film has a 79% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a “B” on CinemaScore. However, it is not enough to surpass the monumental Parasite of 2019. Even the praise emphasizes this fact.
“ Mickey 17 isn’t bad, and it’s fun to watch. But after such a huge success ( Parasite ), Bong’s latest film is a disappointment. That’s probably inevitable,” commented critic Johnny Oleksinski of The New York Post .
“ Mickey 17 never seemed as good as Parasite . It doesn’t have the same seriousness and sharpness, but with its chaos of nonsense and adorable stars, it’s a fun cosmic farce,” wrote Nick Howells of the London Evening Standard .
“If winning an Oscar gives you a free pass to do whatever you want, it seems Bong Joon Ho has missed his chance,” the Scotsman commented.
“While it didn’t quite make the same splash as Oscar-winning Parasite , the long-overdue filmmaker’s follow-up has some beautiful moments,” says John Urbancich of JMuvies .
Previously, Parasite grossed more than $262 million worldwide, ranking as the highest-grossing Korean film in history.
Parasite ‘s excellence becomes a barrier for Mickey 17 .
Mickey 17 is based on the novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton. Robert Pattinson plays Mickey, a disposable humanoid clone. Mickey is sent on dangerous missions and is reborn after each death. The story becomes interesting when the 18th version of Mickey is created while the 17th version is still alive, leading to a series of unexpected events.
According to reviews, Robert Pattinson’s delightfully quirky performance is the highlight of the film.
Mickey 17 is scheduled to hit Vietnamese theaters on March 14.
