Bong Joon Ho’s ‘Mickey 17’ Snags April Release Date After Michael Jackson Biopic Moves to Fall

Bong Joon Ho’s “Mickey 17” is being pushed back on the release slate yet again, but this time the studio believes it’s moving it to a more competitive slot on the 2025 calendar.

“Mickey 17” was originally meant to open January 31 in theaters (originally pushed back from March 2024), but it will now open April 18, 2025, still with an IMAX release.

Studio Warner Bros. has also shifted the release date of New Line Cinema’s “Companion,” the latest horror film from the team behind “Barbarian,” into that January 31 window and given it too a global IMAX release. That film is just shifting back by a few weeks after originally being slated for January 10.

“When the April 18 date became available, we quickly moved to secure it for ‘Mickey 17.’ We’re thrilled with the new date, and very happy the film will be available to audiences in IMAX,” a Warner Bros. Pictures spokesperson said in a statement. “With January 31 now available with a full IMAX footprint, we are also very happy to have ‘Companion’ releasing on this new date.”

That movie that vacated the April 18 slot was “Michael,” Lionsgate’s Michael Jackson biopic that could be one of the major blockbusters of next year. The biopic was pushed into the fall, potentially for an awards play, but it opened up a prime slot in the spring for Bong’s sci-fi. WB saw an opportunity and pounced.

The move also gives “Mickey 17” not just IMAX screens but also the chance to secure other PLFs, hoping for a busy time during the Easter holiday. And the studio has seen strong response to the initial trailer for the film, which debuted in September.

With any release date, there may have been the hope that “Mickey 17” could make its debut at a festival such as Cannes, where Bong won the Palme D’Or for his prior film “Parasite,” but this slot at least gives it the chance to play a festival such as Sundance or SXSW, though it’s unclear if either is a possibility. Bong previously said the delay had to do with a “long process” in his final cut, but that the version that will hit theaters is very much his own, not the product of studio intervention.

“Mickey 17” stars Robert Pattinson as a clone constantly sent to perform dangerous jobs on an ice planet that frequently get him killed. But things get messy when one of the clones survives a mission that was meant to kill him and he gets entangled with the latest iteration of himself. The film is based on a book by Edward Ashton called “Mickey 7” and also stars Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, and Naomi Ackie.

The move for “Companion” is a strong vote of confidence too, as it too will now have access to IMAX screens that would’ve gone to “Mickey 17.” Drew Hancock wrote and directed the film that stars Sophie Thatcher, Rupert Friend, and Jack Quaid.