Director Bong Joon Ho says Robert Pattinson was "born" to play one of his Mickey 17 characters, with The Lighthouse convincing him he could take on both parts

What's better than having the brilliant Robert Pattinson in your movie? Having Robert Pattinson play multiple characters in it, of course!

That's exactly what's in store for R-Patz fans with new sci-fi movie Mickey 17, which sees The Batman star play a man named Mickey Barnes as he becomes what is known as an 'expendable' on a space mission. What this means is that he is continually asked to do dangerous tasks, with his body being repeatedly printed out every time he dies.

We meet several iterations of Mickey in the film, but the main two that feature are Mickey 17 and Mickey 18, with Pattinson delivering very different performances to ensure each version is unique. It's something that he's already receiving much critical acclaim for, with our very own five star Mickey 17 review describing it as Pattinson's best movie yet.

But why was Pattinson the man for this rather challenging job? According to director Bong Joon Ho, who returns to the big screen with his first feature since the Oscar-winning Parasite, the actor was "born" to play the 17th version of the character, who is essentially our protagonist. As he tells GamesRadar+, via a translator: "With 17, I think he already had it in him since he was born. It was in him already."

As for Mickey 18, Pattinson's performances in several indie films impressed director Bong, with the filmmaker being blown away by the actor's range. However, horror-drama The Lighthouse, which sees the actor play a lighthouse keeper trying to maintain his sanity on a remote island, is what ultimately convinced him that Pattinson was more than capable of taking on that role too.

Director Bong explains why: "So he was in very popular films like The Batman and the Twilight series, that had a wide release. But he was also in a lot of incredibly bold and unique indie films like The Lost City Of Z, The King, The Devil All The Time, Good Time, and The Lighthouse. And you really get a sense of his amazing range in those films. And especially when I saw The Lighthouse, and just saw his explosive energy and the madness of his performance in that film, I knew he could play 18."

Mickey 17 releases in US and UK theaters on March 7. For more films that should be on your radar, check out our guide to the best upcoming movies of 2025 and beyond.