Bong Joon Ho, the acclaimed filmmaker behind the Oscar-winning film “Parasite,” has once again captured the attention of audiences with his latest project, “Mickey 17.” The original science fiction film opened in first place on the North American box office charts, earning an impressive $19.1 million in its first weekend in theaters. This was enough to dethrone the three-week reign of “Captain America: Brave New World.”
Overseas, “Mickey 17” has already made $34.2 million, bringing its worldwide total to an impressive $53.3 million. However, despite its success at the box office, the film’s profitability is still a long way off. With a reported production budget of $118 million, not to mention the millions spent on marketing and promotion, “Mickey 17” will need to continue its strong performance in order to break even.
The release of “Mickey 17” comes just a week after the Oscars, where filmmaker Sean Baker made a passionate speech about the importance of the theatrical experience. He emphasized the need for filmmakers to continue making movies for the big screens, for distributors to focus on theatrical releases, and for audiences to continue supporting the movie-going experience. In this sense, “Mickey 17” is a perfect representation of this moment in the film industry, or at the very least, an interesting case study.
Directed by Bong Joon Ho and based on the novel “Mickey7” by Edward Ashton, the film stars Robert Pattinson as an expendable employee who is repeatedly re-printed after dying on missions. The star-studded cast also includes Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo. Despite mostly positive reviews (79% on RottenTomatoes), audiences did not treat “Mickey 17” as an event movie, and it may struggle to break even in the long run.
Originally set for release in March 2024, “Mickey 17” faced several delays, which Bong Joon Ho has attributed to extenuating circumstances such as the Hollywood strikes. However, the film has finally made its highly anticipated debut and has already proven to be a hit with audiences. It opened in 3,807 locations domestically, with its strongest performance in New York and Los Angeles. Premium large format showings, including IMAX screens, also accounted for nearly half of its opening weekend. Internationally, the film performed exceptionally well in Korea, earning an estimated $14.6 million.
In second place was “Captain America: Brave New World,” which added $8.5 million from 3,480 locations in North America and $9.2 million internationally. Its global total currently stands at an impressive $370.8 million. Walt Disney Studios is on track to become the first studio to cross $1 billion in 2025 sometime this week.
Other films in the top five included “Last Breath,” “The Monkey,” and “Paddington in Peru.” The weekend also saw the release of two new films, “In the Lost Lands,” a fantasy film starring Milla Jovovich and Dave Bautista, and “Rule Breakers,” a film about Afghani girls on a robotics team.
In addition to the success of “Mickey 17,” Neon also saw a significant boost in ticket sales for “Anora” after its five Oscar wins, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress. The film earned an estimated $1.9 million, a 595% increase from the previous weekend, bringing its total grosses to $18.4 million.
According to data from Comscore, the 2025 box office is currently up 1% from last year and down 34.2% from the pre-pandemic year of 2019. However, as Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore, points out, the box office is always a rollercoaster, with a few down weeks having a significant impact on the overall numbers. But he remains optimistic, stating that the box office will bounce back.
In conclusion, Bong Joon Ho’s “Mickey 17” has proven to be a success at the box office, dethroning “Captain America: Brave New World” and earning an impressive $19.1 million in its opening weekend. With its star-studded cast, original concept, and
