Steven Yeun joins Robert Pattinson in Bong Joon Ho's new sci-fi thriller
The film is based on the novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
As reported by Deadline, Steven Yeun has joined the cast of Bong Joon Ho’s next film, starring Robert Pattinson. The sci-fi thriller is an adaptation of Edward Ashton’s Mickey7, which director Bong optioned before the novel’s release earlier this year.
While it is unclear how faithfully the script will follow the plot of the book, publisher Macmillan describes Mickey7 as follows:
Mickey7 is an Expendable: A disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever there’s a mission that’s too dangerous—even suicidal—the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact. After six deaths, Mickey7 understands the terms of his deal…and why it was the only colonial position unfilled when he took it.
On a fairly routine scouting mission, Mickey7 goes missing and is presumed dead. By the time he returns to the colony base, surprisingly helped back by native life, Mickey7’s fate has been sealed. There’s a new clone, Mickey8, reporting for Expendable duties. The idea of duplicate Expendables is universally loathed, and if caught, they will likely be thrown into the recycler for protein.
Mickey7 must keep his double a secret from the rest of the colony. Meanwhile, life on Niflheim is getting worse. The atmosphere is unsuitable for humans, food is in short supply, and terraforming is going poorly. The native species are growing curious about their new neighbors, and that curiosity has Commander Marshall very afraid. Ultimately, the survival of both lifeforms will come down to Mickey7.
Although these two actors have a remarkable amount of A24 cred between them–Pattinson has appeared in four of the company’s films and Yeun has three of their projects under his belt, including his Oscar-nominated role in Minari–the Mickey7 adaptation is being made by Warner Bros. Back in May, Deadline reported that the film was in preproduction in London at the studio’s Leavesden facility.
Yeun previously worked with Bong in 2017's Okja, in which he played an animal rights activist alongside Paul Dano. Besides Pattinson, he’s joining Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, and Naomi Ackie in the new film’s cast. Bong’s last feature was, of course, the 2019 triumph Parasite, which won four Oscars.
Yeun will next be seen in Jordan Peele’s Nope. As a voice actor, he’s returning to Tuca & Bertie for a third season, which premieres on Adult Swim on July 10. He also has the comedy series Beef with Ali Wong coming up, though a release date has not been set.