Bong Joon Ho to return to crime and horror after animated Ally
Bong Joon Ho will return to crime and horror after he finishes his animated feature Ally. He told Variety ahead of receiving the Stella della Mole Award from Torino's Museo Nazionale del Cinema that detailed screenwriting on the new slate will start next year.
He said he already has two or three crime and horror stories in mind. He has always been a fan of crime stories and dark horror action movies. An older idea for a horror film set in the Seoul subway is still in his head.
Ally is his first-ever animated film, about a young piglet squid on an unexpected journey after an aircraft crash, according to The Playlist. Post-production is spread across teams in Korea, the U.K., Montreal and Mumbai. He wrapped extra dubbing and voice recording last month and expects the film to be fully finished around late January or February 2027.
Distributors are aiming for a worldwide cinema release in 2027, with June, July or August under discussion. The summer timing fits a film set entirely against a deep blue ocean. Neon will release it widely across North America, according to The Hollywood Reporter, while Pathe will release it in France, Benelux, Switzerland and West Africa and CJ and Penture will handle South Korea, Vietnam, Turkey and Indonesia. Pathe is handling international sales outside Japan, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, which CJ and Penture are selling.
A festival launch is possible. Bong said a premiere at Sundance, Berlin or Cannes will depend on distributors' release strategy, and he hopes to show the film to a festival audience.
Torino is a full-circle stop. Bong first visited in 2003, when Memories of Murder won the Torino Film Festival's audience prize and screenplay award. At the time he had made two films; he has now made eight, most recently Mickey 17 (2025), starring Robert Pattinson. The museum will present the Stella della Mole Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to contemporary cinema, according to the Museo Nazionale del Cinema.
The award ceremony and masterclass take place at Cinema Massimo at 6:00 pm, with museum director Carlo Chatrian in conversation and curation by Marco Fallanca, according to the museum. Bong will then introduce a screening of Parasite at 8:00 pm.
For fans, this means a short wait and then a sharp turn. A family adventure under the sea comes first, then back to the dark streets and shadows where he started.
