‘Parasite’ director Bong Joon Ho’s new film, ‘Mickey 17,’ off to a slow box office start

Director Bong Joon Ho’s sci-fi thriller “Mickey 17” had a slow start in theaters this weekend, amid a sluggish last few weeks for the domestic box office.

The Warner Bros. Pictures film opened in the U.S. and Canada to $19.1 million, landing it in first place. But “Mickey 17” was expected to bring in about $21 million in its domestic opening weekend, according to box office analyst estimates. (The film has already been released internationally and has reaped a worldwide gross of $53.3 million so far)

The film stars Robert Pattinson as a so-called “expendable” spaceship crew member who dies again and again while completing dangerous tasks. It received a 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is Bong’s first film since his Oscar-winning “Parasite” in 2019.

Original sci-fi films can be a tough sell, which could explain the slow start for “Mickey 17,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at media analytics firm Comscore. Though the film is based on a 2022 sci-fi novel by Edward Ashton called “Mickey7,” it’s not tied to widely-known intellectual property as was “Dune” or the “Alien” films.

“Mickey 17” also faces the additional pressure of its hefty reported budget of $118 million.

But despite the lower-than-expected opening weekend, Dergarabedian said the film could build steam over the coming weeks.

“It’s only weekend one,” he said. “It has got some time, and it really is not coming up against any direct competition.”

Disney and Marvel Studios’ “Captain America: Brave New World” came in second at the domestic box office this weekend with about $8.5 million in its fourth weekend in theaters. The film has so far grossed $176.6 million in the U.S. and Canada, with a global box office total of $370.8 million. Rounding out the top five this weekend was Focus Features’ drama “Last Breath” with $4.2 million; Neon’s comedic horror film “The Monkey” with $3.9 million; and Studiocanal’s “Paddington in Peru,” distributed by Sony, which grossed $3.85 million.

In the last few weeks, the box office has seen a sharp downturn compared with last year’s totals. This weekend was a 60% downturn compared with 2024, Dergarabedian said.

That’s partially due to the blockbusters that came out during this same period last year including “Dune: Part Two,” which grossed $82.5 million in its opening weekend, and the animated “Kung Fu Panda 4,” which opened to nearly $58 million. (At the same time, last week’s Oscar weekend box office was down 50% compared with the same weekend a year earlier.)

But with films like Disney’s “Snow White” and Paramount Pictures’ “Novocaine” headed to theaters soon, the box office could pick up, Dergarabedian said.

“There are big blockbusters on the way,” he said. “We have to be patient until they get here.”