Bong Joon-Ho Says Mama Creeper From ‘Mickey 17’ Was Inspired By ‘The Godfather’ & Wanted To Make ‘Alien’ Musical

Last week saw Bong Joon-ho (“Parasite”) make his return to Western theaters with his latest English-language sci-fi film, “Mickey 17,” which stars Robert Pattinson (“The Batman”) in one of the more unique performances as he plays a desperate Earthling who signs up to become an expendable (a clone worker program) and is thrust into a conflict between humans and the native species we he repeatedly dies only to be resurrected from a clone printing machine.

Joon-ho has spent a good chunk of his career moving around the sci-fi genre with films like “The Host,” “Snowpiercer,” “Okja,” and now “Mickey 17,” but the director revealed during an interview with the Los Angeles Times that he had an ambition to tackle a musical set within the world of the “Alien” franchise, despite not being “drawn” to many studio franchises.

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‘I’m not drawn to franchise films, but I did think at one point that I would like to do an ‘Alien’ film…An ‘Alien’ musical,” Joon-ho said when asked about his desire to get involved with existing Hollywood sci-fi franchises.

The funny part here is that the Mel Brooks comedy “Spaceballs,” had a scene where original actor John Hurt recreated his chestbuster scene in a diner as Kane only for the Xenomorph to start singing and dancing like “Looney Tunes” character Michigan J. Frog. Perhaps, that is what Joon-ho was referencing and would be quite the deep-cut.

On another comedic note, while speaking with Letterboxd, the Oscar-winning filmmaker revealed that his Mama Creeper (don’t worry no spoilers here) was inspired by the introduction scene to Marlon Brando‘s Vito Corleone from Francis Ford Coppola‘s “The Godfather.” The Creepers are the alien species that the human colonists come into contact with on the snowy planet of Niflheim (an obvious nod to the cold and barren realm from Norse mythology).

What’s next for Joon-ho?

The director’s next effort is expected to be an animated film loosely based on Claire Nouvian’s French novel “The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures Of The Abyss” that was expected to have fellow filmmaker/actor Werner Herzog (“Jack Reacher”) lending his voice to the project. There was an update of sorts back in December (via Screen Daily) that the film is at the “halfway” point to completion according to Seo Woo-sik, CEO of Barunson C&C.

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However, we’re still waiting on an official release date and title for this cool-sounding animated movie, but given they were aiming for it to be ready in 2026, we likely won’t have to wait too much longer for that information.

You can watch the filmmaker’s full interview with Letterboxd below.