Actor Steven Yeun is set to reunite with filmmaker Bong Joon Ho on the latter’s next feature at Warner Bros. The actor has been cast in the director’s upcoming untitled movie that’s based on the novel, Mickey7, by Edward Ashton, Deadline is reporting. The project comes after the duo previously worked together on Netflix’s acclaimed 2017 action adventure drama, Okja.
Yeun will join several other actors who have already been publicly linked to Mickey7‘s screen adaptation, including Robert Pattinson, who’s expected to play the eponymous protagonist. The film will also star Naomi Ackie, Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette.
Bong will write, helm and produce the movie for his production company, Offscreen. He’ll produce the feature alongside Dooho Choi of Kate Street Picture Company. The film will reunite Bong and Choi with Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner of Brad Pitt’s production company, Plan B, after they previously worked together on Okja.
While the movie will be inspired by Mickey7, which was published in February by the Macmillan imprint, St. Martin, it may ultimately be different from the literary work. His previous screen adaptations are known for taking their own overall storytelling approach.
The novel’s story follows the titular Mickey7, who works as 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, 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 accepted it.
The film is Bong’s first project since his South Korean black comedy thriller, Parasite, was released to critical acclaim and box office success in 2019. The drama was also honored with the Cannes Palme d’Or.
The movie then went on to win four Academy Awards; it made history by becoming the first non-English-language film to win the Best Picture Oscar.
Bong, who’s also known for helming Snowpiercer and The Host, also won the trophies for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the ceremony, where Parasite also won the International Feature Film award.
Before he stars in the screen adaptation, Yeun will next be seen in Oscar-winning writer-helmer-producer Jordan Peele’s sci-fi horror thriller, Nope. The actor co-stars with Academy Award-winner Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer in the movie, which will be released in theaters on July 22 by Universal Pictures.
Yeun was most recently seen in the A24 drama, Minari, for which he earned some of the best reviews of his career. The Walking Dead alum was subsequently nominated for Academy, SAG, Critics Choice and Independent Spirit Awards for his portrayal of farmer-family man, Jacob Yi in Minari.