Now and Ben: Bong Joon Ho on Mickey 17, British winters & his iPad obsession

Kermode & Mayo’s Take

Sony Music

Tv & Film, Film Reviews, Tv Reviews, Film Interviews

4.4 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 7 March 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s ‘Mickey 17’ release day, and Ben is chatting to Director Bong Joon Ho in today’s episode to celebrate. Starring Robert Pattinson as an expendable worker on a colonized ice planet, the new film from Korean cinema’s modern master sees protagonist Mickey ‘re-printed’ over and over again. Frequently killed in his dangerous daily tasks, ‘human printing technology’ allows Mickey to be simply reborn, with his memories intact. But when he makes it back to base unexpectedly alive one day, he finds he’s already been reprinted—coming face to face with his latest iteration. His girlfriend may be loving it, but the law, upheld by Mark Ruffalo’s villainous Marshall, is not. Ben sits down with the ‘Parasite’ Oscar winner, and his legendary translator Sharon Choi, to unpack this dark comedy sci-fi satire... to name some of the genres this madcap movie might be. Nobody makes them like Director Bong. He reveals the secret real-life location of his ice-planet (complete with mountains of salt standing in for snow), the challenges of working with two Robert Pattinsons, and his obsession with his comfort-blanket iPad. Check out the ‘Now and Ben’ back catalogue for more conversations with cinema’s most exciting creative talents, including four-time Oscar winning director of ‘Anora’, Sean Baker, ‘Peaky Blinders’ writer Steven Knight, and Hollywood royalty Angela Bassett. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:30.9	Hello and welcome to another episode of Now and Ben.
0:34.0	In these extra helpings of film buffery, our super sub Ben Bailey Smith brings you even more
0:40.3	conversations with the biggest names in film and streaming. In this episode, it's our second
0:45.9	Oscar-winning guest, the filmmaker behind Snowpiercer, Parasite, and now Mickey 17, director
0:51.0	Bong Joon Ho. He talks to Ben about his new film set in a barren,
0:55.3	sci-fi ice colony where an expendable Robert Pattinson is condemned to be reprinted over and
1:01.5	over again. Check out our back catalogue for more of Ben's chat, including with the now four-time
1:07.2	Oscar-winning director of Anora, Sean Baker. Don't forget to check the take feed for these bonus nuggets every now and Ben.
1:15.7	I was thinking about the gestation of this film,
1:18.7	and I was wondering if you could give us a little prehistory on it, how it came to be.
1:23.6	So I received the original material in the fall of 2020 and immediately captivated.
1:32.3	21's adaptation and 21 year ago,
1:36.3	Robb to meet and casting started.
1:39.3	So in 2021, I adapted the novel into a screenplay, and in that winter, I met up with Rob and started the casting process.
1:48.0	Casting, pre-production, soon-dovement,
1:51.0	22, in the year-gold and the janexed and budget,
	...

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