(Image Source: Warner Bros. Pictures)
Award-winning director Bong Joon-ho's novel adaptation "Mickey 17," which premiered early last year, did not perform as expected at the box office. Produced with a budget exceeding $100 million, it ultimately grossed only around $130 million worldwide. Critical reception was also highly polarized; some praised it as a sharply satirical sci-fi masterpiece, while others found the story disjointed and lacking focus.
Bong Joon-ho has openly addressed the film's performance and reception. In a recent interview with Variety magazine, he stated: "Director's final cut was part of my contract, and everyone at the studio and at my agency tried their best to protect me. Of course, during post-production, there were lots of discussions and a lot of opinions going back and forth, but it wasn't ever like someone was forcing something on me or giving me pressure. And so luckily, all my films have been released as my director's final cut, even a movie as big as 'Mickey 17.' All the good parts of that film and all the bad parts of that film came from me. I take full responsibility. So, blame me if you didn't like it!"
(Image Source: Warner Bros. Pictures)
However, Bong also confessed that making "Mickey 17" was incredibly stressful, to the point where he no longer wishes to tackle such large-scale productions. "Technically, 'Mickey 17' is my third English-language film, but 'Okja' was with Netflix, and 'Snowpiercer' was with a Korean studio. So this, that really was my first time working with a classic old Hollywood studio," he explained. "In terms of the actual production and creative mechanisms, I didn't feel much difference in the process. But because it had quite a big budget — it was my first film that had a budget above $100 million — I felt a lot of psychological, mental pressure. So I think naturally I'm going to work on smaller films from now on."
via： Variety