Bong Joon-ho and Robert Pattinson’s sci-fi movie Mickey 17 is already generating negative buzz after its box office opening weekend, but the $19 million performance isn’t as bad as it seems. Discussing whether a movie is a box office success is typically rather cut and dry. General guidelines, like a film needing to make at least twice its budget to break even, still stand and can be easy to follow. Box office discourse and whether a film is financially profitable for the studio has only increased, leading to some understandable concern in this case due to Mickey 17‘s budget.

Mickey 17‘s opening weekend box office numbers are now in, which means reactions to and analysis of the film’s financial status increase. The movie made $19 million during its first three days at the domestic box office. That’s not necessarily the figures Warner Bros. hoped for when they decided to make a sci-fi movie that reportedly cost $118 million. Robert Pattinson was fresh off The Batman‘s $772 million performance, and Bong Joon-ho had just seen Parasite make $262 million and win multiple Oscars. The context makes Mickey 17‘s box office look really bad, but there’s also another perspective.

Mickey 17 Is Actually A Record High Opening For Bong Joon-ho At The Box Office

The Director Has Achieved New Box Office Heights

$19 million is on the lower end of desired opening weekend box office figures for mid-to-big budget movies. The positive spin for Mickey 17‘s box office is that it made history in a few different ways. This includes Mickey 17 having the biggest opening weekend of Bong Joon-ho’s career at the domestic box office. This was an easy record to break honestly. His previous movies were smaller releases that had expanding release models instead of releasing wide at the start. Even financial hits like Parasite and Snowpiercer did not open to over $1 million domestically.

This means that Mickey 17 is also the first of Bong Joon-ho’s movies ever to be the #1 movie at the box office. Mickey 17 dethroned Captain America: Brave New World after three straight weeks of winning the weekend. It’s also the third-highest opening weekend of 2025 so far, only behind Captain America: Brave New World ($88M) and Dog Man ($36M). By considering stats like these, the performance of a new Bong Joon-ho sci-fi dark comedy is actually pretty impressive. It’s his strongest start commercially, and there’s a path for greater results if interest is sustained.

Mickey 17 Is Well-Positioned To Be One Of Bong Joon-ho’s Biggest Box Office Earners Overall

It’s Already Surging Up His Career Charts

The other positive factor for Mickey 17 is that the film’s box office is not limited to domestic territories. It is already playing in many international countries and has had strong performances in several locations. That is how Mickey 17‘s worldwide box office is $53.3 million, which is roughly half of the film’s budget. The movie has, unsurprisingly, played well in Bong Joon-ho’s native country of South Korea, which is the top international territory at $14.6 million in sales. With several weeks of Mickey 17 showtimes in theaters still to come, there is room for the movie to increase is total haul.

That’s notable considering how Mickey 17 could be one of Bong Joon-ho’s highest-grossing movies overall. It’s currently his fourth-biggest movie at the box office and has a chance to surpᴀss Snowpiercer ($82M) and The Host ($92M). All signs point to Mickey 17 finishing as the director’s second-biggest hit at the box office, falling only behind Parasite. The only difference in this instance is that Mickey 17 is unlikely to turn a profit, with Warner Bros.’ production and marketing costs reportedly being near $200 million after spending $80 million on marketing (per Variety).

Mickey 17 May Not Become A Box Office Success, But Its Release Is Still Worth Celebrating

It Was A Gamble Worth Taking

Mickey 17 was a box office risk after Warner Bros. gave it a hefty budget, and that’s given the film low odds of turning a profit. It would need to make well over $200 million to achieve that goal. That’s not likely based on this opening weekend, but that isn’t all that matters. Mickey 17‘s release should still be celebrated because it is exactly what it was intended to be. The final product is one hundred percent a Bong Joon-ho movie thanks to its dark comedy and how it incorporates his usual social and political commentary.

This isn’t a case of a studio interfering with a director’s vision just because more money is at stake. The fact that Mickey 17 came out in theaters makes that all the more surprising. Okja is similar to Mickey 17 in a lot of ways, but the movie wasn’t impacted by box office discourse due to its Netflix release. I’ll always be happy that Warner Bros. took the financial risk ᴀssociated with Mickey 17 and put it in theaters while letting Bong Joon-ho make his movie, no matter where the final box office figures land.