Allow Robert Pattinson to introduce himself again… and again and again.
He plays more than a dozen versions of the same character, Mickey Barnes, in director Bong Joon Ho‘s upcoming sci-fi thriller “Mickey 17.”
Bong, the Oscar-winning director of “Parasite,” brought a wacky, thrilling first look at the film to CinemaCon, the annual exhibition trade show that’s currently unfolding in Las Vegas. Through an interpreter, the director described “Mickey 17” as a “story about a simple man who ultimately ends up saving the world. It’s a strange type of hero’s journey.”
It’s based on Edward Ashton’s novel “Mickey 7,” but Bong opted to change the name of the film to “Mickey 17.” The number reflects how many times the main character dies, so Bong teased, “I killed him 10 more times!”
Before theater owners at CinemaCon got a sneak peek of the trailer, which isn’t yet available to the public, Bong praised the power of the gigantic screen behind him.
“I’m happy we can show the trailer on a big screen — and not on mobile phones,” he said to loud applause.
“Mickey 17” opens as Pattinson’s character applies for a job as an “expendable,” a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize an ice planet. It’s not a coveted position, and even the company’s secretary is shocked that someone applied for this particular gig. “once you die,” she explains to Mickey, “we print a new version of your body.”
On stage at Caesars Palace, Pattinson keyed into the motivation of his character, who is someone who has the “lowest expectations of his life, and lifejust keeps pushing those expectations lower and lower…”
Back in the trailer, things go awry as one version of Mickey doesn’t die and a replacement clone comes to take his place, leading Pattinson to face off against another Pattinson.
“I don’t like you, but I’m you,” Pattinson, with an implacable accent, tells his duplicate. He responds to himself, “I’m going to kill you.”
Turns out, it’s not that easy to destroy one of the Mickeys. “Rock paper scissors, and we’ll shoot the loser?” one person offers.
For what it’s worth, Pattinson’s character laments that getting obliterated never gets easier.
“I’m sure you’re used to it by now, but what’s it like to die?” Mark Ruffalo, who co-stars in the film, asks him.
Not so. Pattinson says, “On my 17thgo around, I hate dying.”
When asked what made Pattinson the perfect person to play Mickey, Bong cracked: “he’s got this crazy thing in his eyes.”
The director elaborated, “I felt like he could do all the different variations of Mickey in the story. He’s such a creative man.”
Pattinson called Bong his “hero” and said he got sent the screenplay and was told, “You’re going to love the script, but the part is impossible.”
“That’s very exciting to me,” Pattinson teased.
“Mickey 17” is Bong’s first film since “Parasite,” which became the first non-English language movie to win best picture at the Oscars and the highest-grossing South Korean film in history. Before “Parasite” became a hit, Bong was known for acclaimed films like “Snowpiercer,” “The Host,” “Okja” and “Barking Dogs Never Bite.”
Warner Bros. teased “Mickey 17” as part of its hours-long presentation to theater owners. They also teased extensive looks at “Joker: Folie à Deux,” “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” “Horizon: An American Saga” and “Mad Max” prequel “Furiosa.”
“We are committed to making big crowd-pleasing event movies,” said Warner Bros. distribution chief Jeff Goldstein, who was dressed as Beetlejuice (the sequel to the 1998 Tim Burton movie will debut in September).“Nothing can replace it; nothing to replicate.”
