Oscar-winning Parasite director Bong Joon Ho‘s Mickey 17 is on the move again. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. announced Wednesday it is pushing back the film’s release from Jan. 31, 2025, to April 18, 2025. Mickey 17 will be released in Imax theaters globally. More and more, premium large-format screens are contributing a huge percentage of a film’s earnings, so are in high demand. “When the April 18 date became available, we quickly moved to secure it for Mickey 17. We’re thrilled with the new date, and very happy the film will be available to audiences in IMAX,” a studio spokesperson said in a statement. Robert Pattinson stars in the adaptation of the 2022 novel Mickey 7, from author Edward Ashton. In the novel, Mickey 7 is a space colonist known as an expendable. (In fact, he is the seventh iteration of a man named Mickey Barnes.) Each colony features an expendable, a crewmember who takes deadly jobs but who are then restored via clone bodies when they die. Ashton published the sequel, Antimatter Blues, last year. Director Bong is expected to put his own trademark spin on the source material, with the film also starring Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo. Plan B Entertainment is producing, with Dooho Choi of Kate Street Picture Company, and Bong via his Offscreen, Inc. banner.

In an article on the box office disappointments for adult-themed dramas this year (namely Robert Zemeckis’ “Here” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis”), The Hollywood Reporter shares some insight on Warner Bros. decision to release “Juror #2” only in limited release: Looking at the landscape when it comes to adult dramas, Warner Bros. Discovery took a different tact and decided from the outset to make the courtroom thriller for Max with Eastwood’s okay. The movie also opened over the Nov. 1-3 weekend opposite Here in a smattering of U.S. cities after being selected as the closing night for the AFI Film Fest, but anyone who is curious about how it did won’t be able to find out, since it was only an awards qualifying run and no grosses were reported. Insiders say it played in roughly 35 theaters. The pic was screened for some reviewers, and sports a stellar 91 percent fresh critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, prompting box office bloggers to predict that Warners will surely change its mind and give the movie a true theatrical run. According to several sources who spoke with The Hollywood Reporter, that isn’t in the cards. The plan remains to send the film, starring Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons and Paul Bettany, to Max over the Christmas holidays (the streamer has not announced an exact date). The film’s budget is reportedly less than $35 million; a nationwide theatrical release would tack on tens of millions in marketing costs. Theatrical versus streaming is a touchy subject for WBD in the aftermath of “Project Popcorn,” which was orchestrated by the prior regime of Jason Kilar and gave all 2021 films a dual day-and-date release in cinemas and on Max in a surprise move that enraged talent and cinemas. By avoiding a theatrical release, Eastwood and Warners can avoid any bad press Zemeckis and Hanks are having to endure over Here should Juror #2 have disappointed. The complete article can be read over here.

With Friday’s limited release of “Juror #2”, Toni Collette and Nicholas Hoult have participated in a press tour to promote the release of the film. They were interviewed on ABC Nightline and Extra – both appearances can be found in the video archive. There are also first production stills and on-set pictures from the film. All updates can be found below. Enjoy.

USA Today has a nice interview and photo shoot with Toni Collette and Nicholas Hoult on “Juror #2″: Toni Collette played a mom in movies before she was one in real life, so she’s paid special attention to the career rise of her “About a Boy” co-star Nicholas Hoult. Twenty-two years after appearing with Hugh Grant in the coming-of-age dramedy, Hoult and Collette got a kick out of being cast together again in director Clint Eastwood’s new courtroom drama “Juror #2” (in select theaters Friday). And on their first day of filming – in a moment of emotion and confrontation – Collette felt very much in the scene but also “like a proud mother.” “Like, oh, my God, look at my boy go! He was so good,” she recalls in an interview alongside Hoult. “He’s become like this incredible actor.” The complete interview can be read over at USA Today.

After yesterday’s world-premiere of “Juror #2” at the AFI Fest, reviews for the film are coming in – and they are very favorable, receiving praise for Eastwood being still up to par and singling out Toni Collette’s multidimensional character as a Southern proscecutor. With reviews as good as this, it makes even less sense that Warner Bros. is keeping it in limited release. Here’s an overview of critics sites writing about the film.

IndieWire, Christian Zilko (October 28, 2024)
If there’s a downside to living to 94 and remaining healthy enough to work in Hollywood after being an entertainment icon in seven different decades, it’s that your films become impossible to separate from the arc of your life. When Clint Eastwood’s 40th directorial effort, “Juror #2,” premiered at AFI Fest 2024, it was accompanied by the hefty expectations that follow 65 years on the silver screen. Not only does the film rise to the occasion, it soars past it.

Variety, Peter Debruge (October 28, 2024)
It’s no coincidence the film is set in Georgia, where first-degree vehicular homicide is treated as a felony. The location gives Collette (and no one else in the cast) a chance to do a thick Southern accent, as her character alternates between court and the campaign trail. Faith is running for district attorney on a tough-on-domestic-abuse platform, and this case could push her to victory, which makes the truth as inconvenient for her as it is for Justin. Faith eventually starts to question her case, which could jeopardize her political ambitions, while giving Collette a chance to redeem a character who earlier read as a self-righteous obstacle to justice and now seems like its most Eastwood-worthy champion.

Screen Daily, Tim Grierson (October 28, 2024)
Faith is a potentially stereotypical ambitious prosecutor, but Collette instead portrays her as a noble, dedicated attorney who starts to have her own doubts about the case. Separately, Faith begins digging deeper, her revelations risking her chance of victory at the polls if it turns out James did not kill his girlfriend.

Deadline, Pete Hammond (October 28, 2024)
Clint Eastwood‘s 42nd and possibly last film as director (hope not), Juror #2, also happens to be his best since American Sniper. At 94, this remarkable filmmaker not only still has it, he actually has it in spades over some half his age. Collette as the assistant district attorney now running for the top job, is superb as a prosecutor who is certain she has her guy, only to have doubts she may have gotten it wrong.

Punch Drunk Critics, Travis Hopson (October 28, 2024)
At 94 years old, Clint Eastwood is still going strong. While speculation has run rampant about his future, the legendary star hasn’t said anything about Juror #2, his 40th feature as a director, being his swan song. And if it is, that would be fine. Collette’s role expands the further we get into Juror # 2, and she’s reliably great as a prosecutor who trusts in Lady Justice, but is clouded by her own ambitions. Despite the extreme nature of the plot and the nagging feeling this circus case should be thrown out, Collette, Hoult, and Eastwood keep the film grounded. You can drive a truck through some of the plotholes, but if you can shut yourself off to them and trust in Eastwood’s steady, workmanlike direction and the performances of his stars, Juror # 2 is an enjoyable morality tale.

At yesterday’s closing night of the 2024 AFI Fest, Toni Collette and Nicholas Hoult delighted fans as they addressed their reunion on stage. “I hope you’ve all seen Juror No 1, if not this is going to make very little sense,” Hoult joked as he introduced the movie. “Hasn’t my boy grown up?” said Collette. “He’s so funny and handsome. We worked together on About a Boy 22 years ago and it’s taken the genius of Clint Eastwood to bring us back together.” Collette starred as Hoult’s on-screen mother, Fiona, who is struggling to manage her life as a single parent to Marcus in the Nick Hornby comedy. Pictures from the world-premiere have been added to the photo gallery.