Steven Yeun, best known for playing the character Glenn in several seasons of The Walking Dead and for earning an Oscar nomination for his role in the drama Minari, has signed on to join Robert Pattinson (The Batman), Naomi Ackie (The End of the F***ing World), Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers), and Toni Collette (Hereditary) in the cast of an untitled sci-fi thriller being directed by Bong Joon Ho. Yeun and Bong previously worked together on the Netflix release Okja.
This sci-fi thriller is the first film Bong has made since his 2019 film Parasite won Best Picture and he won the Best Director and Best Original Screenplay Academy Awards. It’s based on a novel by Edward Ashton that was called Mickey7, but so far it doesn’t look like this adaptation is going to keep the book’s title.
The novel Mickey7 (which you can purchase at THIS LINK) has the following description:
Dying isn’t any fun… but at least it’s a living.
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.
That is, if he can just keep from dying for good.
Deadline reports that Bong is writing, directing, and producing the adaptation for his production company Offscreen, along with Kate Street Picture Company’s Dooho Choi and Plan B’s Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, part of the latter’s overall deal with Warner Bros.
Yeun will next be seen in Jordan Peele’s “horror epic” Nope, which is set to reach theatres on July 22nd. Are you glad to hear he’s going to be in Bong Joon Ho’s next film? Let us know by leaving a comment below.