Bong Joon-ho’s mystery animated film is said to be halfway complete

Parasite director Bong Joon-ho’s animated film, a follow-up to the delayed Mickey 17, is reportedly halfway complete already.

If you wondered what Bong Joon-ho was doing while Warner Bros was repeatedly pushing back his next film, Mickey 17 then wonder no more. By the time Bong’s sci-fi comedy releases in cinemas it will have faced a delay of over a year, from March of this year until April 2025 via a couple of pushbacks. With some reports stating that Bong lost final cut on the film (something he has repeatedly denied), who knows how much time the filmmaker has been putting into post production, but the hope is that the film that releases next April will be his original vision for the project.

Another Bong film that seems to be running more smoothly is his top secret animated film, being produced in South Korea. According to Screen Daily, work is progressing well, with over half of the film now complete. Production began this summer, with Bong himself having hand-drawn the storyboards for the entire film, the plot of which is being kept under wraps (along with the title).

Read more: Parasite review | A flat-out must-see film

The story’s said to focus on deep sea creatures and the relationship between marine life and humans. Beyond that, we know very little apart from that the project is costing around $52m, making it the most expensive animated film in Korean history. Sony Pictures is involved and a global release is planned.

Given that half of the production is said to have been completed since the summer, could we be looking at a late 2025 release for the new Bong hit? That’s probably an outside bet and 2026 is more likely, but until we definitively hear otherwise, there’s always the chance that we could get two Bong films in the space of a year. That’s if Warner Bros doesn’t delay Mickey 17 a third time, of course.

We’ll bring you more on this one as we hear it.