Ally: A Deep-Sea Adventure With Familiar Bong Joon-ho Currents
Bong Joon-ho’s first animated film, Ally, is poised to be his next big splash. Co-written with Jason Yu, the movie follows a curious piglet squid living in the uncharted depths of the South Pacific Ocean whose dream is to reach the surface and become the star of a wildlife documentary. When a mysterious aircraft crashes into her underwater world, Ally’s routine is disrupted and an adventure begins, echoing Bong’s fondness for ordinary lives upended by strange events. Though Ally is a family-friendly ocean adventure on the surface, Bong has hinted that it shares thematic DNA with Parasite and Snowpiercer, suggesting another blend of genre thrills and social commentary. Still in development but aimed at a worldwide release next year, Ally doubles as a test case for how Bong’s sensibility translates into animation without losing its bite.
Seven Live-Action Ideas: Inside Bong Joon-ho’s Overflowing Project Pipeline
Beyond Ally, Bong Joon-ho has revealed that he already has seven different ideas for his next live-action film. That number says a lot about his creative process: he develops multiple concepts in parallel, letting them compete for his attention until one demands to be made. This method keeps his output unpredictable, resisting the pressure to repeat past successes. It also reflects his productivity; even while immersed in storyboarding and shaping Ally, he is seeding the next phase of his live-action career. Collaborators describe him as meticulous, and his work with actors on projects like Mickey 17 — where Naomi Ackie noted the freedom he gave her to improvise within heavily storyboarded scenes — suggests he likes to plan rigorously while leaving space for spontaneity. Those seven ideas likely span tones and genres, mirroring the range that has defined the Bong Joon-ho filmography so far.
From Memories of Murder to Parasite: What His Past Films Hint About the Future
To guess what might emerge from Bong Joon-ho’s stack of new concepts, it helps to look back. His filmography runs from the chilling procedural Memories of Murder to genre mash-ups like Snowpiercer and the class-war dark comedy of Parasite. Across them all, Bong bends genre to explore systems of power, economic inequality and moral ambiguity, often through outsiders and misfits. Ally’s premise—a small creature yearning for the surface and fame—already echoes his interest in marginalized figures confronting larger structures. His cinephile tastes, from The Shining to Spirited Away and Studio Ghibli’s work, also hint that he’s comfortable fusing horror, fantasy and emotional realism. Whether his next live-action movie is a thriller, a satirical drama, or something stranger, it will likely pair meticulous craft with an undercurrent of anger at how ordinary lives are shaped, confined, and sometimes consumed by invisible forces.
Global Expectations, Greater Freedom: Bong Joon-ho After Parasite and Mickey 17
Parasite reshaped how the global industry views Bong Joon-ho, turning him from a beloved auteur into a mainstream reference point. That visibility, followed by his star-studded sci‑fi collaboration Mickey 17 with actors like Naomi Ackie and Robert Pattinson, has expanded both his freedom and the expectations around any Bong Joon-ho new movie. Ackie has spoken about how he storyboards his films in detail yet still encourages improvisation, illustrating a director confident enough to control every frame while trusting performers to surprise him. This balance is crucial as he navigates his next project: the industry now anticipates ambitious, globally resonant stories from him, not niche experiments. At the same time, his own “seong-deok” mindset—seeing filmmaking as a way to live out his film-geek passions, like hosting an in-depth Q&A with David Fincher—suggests he will prioritise personal obsessions over safe, crowd-pleasing choices.
What to Watch While Waiting for Ally and Bong Joon-ho’s Next Project
While fans wait for the Ally ocean adventure and whatever emerges from Bong Joon-ho’s seven live-action ideas, his existing work offers a rich roadmap. Revisiting Parasite reveals how deftly he escalates tension from comedy to horror without losing emotional clarity. Snowpiercer pairs high-concept world-building with sharp social allegory, a likely touchstone for Ally’s mix of spectacle and critique. Memories of Murder remains essential for its haunting ambiguity and character detail, illuminating how Bong uses unresolved mysteries to linger in the viewer’s mind. For a different angle, exploring his influences—The Shining, The Social Network, Spirited Away, and other favourites he’s mentioned—helps contextualise his style within broader film history. Taken together, the Bong Joon-ho filmography shows a director who treats every project as a chance to twist genre, probe class and power, and smuggle radical ideas into gripping entertainment.
