Bong Joon Ho’s highly anticipated sci-fi film Mickey 17 has debuted at the box office with a lackluster $19.1 million opening in the U.S. The Warner Bros. film, starring Robert Pattinson, struggled to generate excitement, but still managed to take the top spot, amid a slow weekend at the box office.
Despite the slow start in the U.S., Mickey 17 has performed better overseas, grossing $24.5 million to date, including a strong $11.4 million from Bong’s native South Korea. This brings its global total to $53.3 million.
The film, a dark comedy set in a nascent ice colony, follows Robert Pattinson as Mickey Barnes, a repeatedly reconstituted “expendable” who is killed and resurrected multiple times. Alongside Pattinson, the film stars Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo. The movie is based on the 2022 novel Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton.
Although expectations were high following Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite—which won the Academy Award for Best Picture—Mickey 17 has not resonated strongly with audiences or critics. It holds a solid but not exceptional 78% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences have rated it 73% on the platform’s “Popcorn Meter.” The film received a B CinemaScore, signaling a lukewarm reception from moviegoers.
The production cost of Mickey 17 was a reported $118 million, and with a slow opening, it faces pressure to perform strongly in the coming weeks in order to break even.
Other films in the box office included Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World, which remained at No. 2 with $8.5 million in its fourth week, bringing its domestic total to $176.6 million. Last Breath, a deep-sea thriller from Focus Features, came in third with $4.2 million, while Paddington in Peru and The Monkey tied for fourth with $3.9 million each.
The box office as a whole saw a significant drop in sales, down 60% compared to the same weekend last year, highlighting a slump in ticket sales. Year-to-date box office revenue is up only 1% compared to 2024, signaling a challenging period for the industry. However, analysts remain optimistic, with Comscore’s Paul Dergarabedian noting that “things will bounce back as they always do” in the coming months.
In the wake of Anora’s success at the Oscars, it expanded into 1,750 theaters this weekend and saw a notable increase in box office numbers, grossing $1.9 million for a domestic total of $18.3 million.
