As he does the press rounds promoting his upcoming film Mickey 17, the Oscar winning writer & director of 2019’s “Parasite” Bong Joon Ho told The Los Angles Times that while big franchise films hold little appeal to him, the Alien franchise is one that stands out to him. And if he ever did step behind the camera to shoot the iconic Xenomorph, he might be interested in doing it with a twist.
“I’m not drawn to franchise films, but I did think at one point that I would like to do an ‘Alien’ film,” the 55-year-old Bong says over Zoom on a recent morning from New York, sitting beside his interpreter, Sharon Choi. He pauses, then adds with his trademark dry wit, “An ‘Alien’ musical.”
The music comment may be more of a joke about a previous conversation with Mickey 17 star Robert Pattinson than any serious comment about what he would do with an Alien film, but Bong Joon Ho is certainly no stranger to the creature or horror genres, having previously helmed The Host.
Thanks to Nightmare Asylum & skhellter for the news and context behind the musical joke.
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I can't wait to see Khonji's work in Mickey 17
Out of all living directors he's one of, if not the best suited for an Alien movie.
Yeah, his comments about it being a musical are a joke. It's a gag he keeps returning to during this Mickey 17 press tour, after an extensive conversation he had with Pattinson about not being particularly fond of them.
I think he'd be a very good fit for an Alien film. Tonally it'd probably be closer to Resurrection than anything else ever done in the series, and its satirical slant would probably be blunt in a way that makes Rain's situation with her transfer request being denied at the start of Romulus feel subtle in comparison, but that's all part of the appeal of his work for me.
I revisited Snowpiercer the day after seeing Mickey 17 and yeah, as far as his genre stuff goes, he's got the juice.
at 2 minutes:
and oh god - that John Campea guy thought Bong was serious.
One of the dumbest people in showbiz
is funny and sad.
As Nightmare Asylum said below I'm sure he's being cheeky about the musical part.
https://x.com/pattinsonphotos/status/1896636250590994913
but "actually good".
Anyways, Bong Joon-ho would be incredible for an Alien movie. Look at his creature feature in The Host, and the scathing political satire in... everything. Just an incredible body of work all around.
Tonally, there's a good chance he might land closer to Resurrection than to any other film in the franchise. But I would be pretty ok with that, myself.
Mickey 17 is almost certainly going to bomb at the box office, though, so I don't see 20th reaching out to him any time soon.
Ah, well. I cannot wait to see Mickey 17 after work tonight!