“Mickey 17” director Bong Joon-ho, right, and lead actor Robert Pattinson pose during a press conference for the upcoming sci-fi film at a theater in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

The acclaimed filmmaker behind "Parasite" (2019), Bong Joon-ho, described his upcoming film “Mickey 17,” starring British actor Robert Pattinson, as a deeply human sci-fi story about a character navigating extreme circumstances.

“'Mickey 17' is a sci-fi film as we commonly know them, but at the same time, it's a very human sci-fi [film] filled with [a] human scent," Bong said during a press conference in Seoul, Monday. "It's the story of Mickey, a plain, powerless and pitiful young man played by Robert Pattinson. It's a new kind of sci-fi that is overflowing with human scent."

The director gained global attention after winning the Palme d'Or prize at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival and the Best Picture award at the 92nd Academy Awards with his film "Parasite."

His new film, released six years after his big hit, tells the story of Mickey (Pattinson), an expendable sent on dangerous missions, who is "printed" again after dying. The story unfolds as Mickey faces his 17th near-death experience, during which Mickey 18 is printed because his company believes Mickey 17 is dead, leading to unpredictable events.

A poster for director Bong Joon-ho's upcoming film "Mickey 17" / Courtesy of Warner Bros. Korea

Based on Edward Ashton's novel "Mickey7," "Mickey 17" also features stars such as Mark Ruffalo, Steven Yeun and Naomi Ackie, in addition to Pattinson.

Bong, who also wrote the script, explained that the concept of "human printing" — likened to printing documents — was meant to depict working-class individuals enduring extreme circumstances.

"Mickey's job is to repeatedly die or be assigned to missions with a high probability of death and then die. The number 17 means he has died 17 times. It's truly an extreme job. It's an inhumane setup where humans are newly printed each time they die, like printing documents," he said.

"Mickey is in the working class facing extreme circumstances. This film doesn't explicitly display a political banner about class struggle, but it's a growth story about how pitiful Mickey navigates such a difficult situation."

“Mickey 17” director Bong Joon-ho, left, speaks about his movie, scheduled to hit theaters on Feb. 28, during a press conference held at a theater in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

Pattinson said that when he first received the script for this movie, he thought it was easy and simple, but after analyzing the script in detail, he found that there were many complex aspects to portray.

"The script is very funny. My first read of it seemed deceptively simple. It's crazy and it's funny. It's a really quick read," the British actor said. "But then when you try and break down the actual mentality of why he is the way he is, it gets very complicated very quickly. And even trying to play the humor of it was quite hard, because he's a character who has a total lack of self-confidence, but he doesn't feel sorry for himself."

He added that while acting, he thought of the character Mickey as a poorly trained dog that he had owned in the past.

"I had a lot of different inspirations. My main one was, I thought I was playing a dog. I used to have this really badly behaved dog, and I'd try to train it," he explained. "And I kind of thought that's sort of what Mickey is like, because no one can really punish him. No level of punishment ever makes a change. It requires literally dying 17 times to realize that maybe he'd ruined his life, and then study different ways."

The director added that Pattinson was his first choice for the role from the moment he wrote the script, and that the experience of making the film with him was very enjoyable.

"Robert Pattinson has shown amazing performances not only as a superhero in 'The Batman' (2022) but also in 'Good Time' (2017) and 'The Lighthouse' (2019). I had consistently been interested in him because he acts so well, and while writing the screenplay for 'Mickey 17,' the actor had two roles, 17 and 18. He had to portray the somewhat foolish and pitiful 17 and the unpredictable and strangely charismatic 18. I thought of Rob from the beginning," Bong said.

“Mickey 17” will hit theaters in Korea on Feb. 28, and globally in March.