'Bong Joon-ho’s follow-up to 'Mickey 17'—feature-length animation 'Aly' confirmed

'Bong Joon-ho' expands his world with the feature-length animated film 'Aly'

World-renowned director 'Bong Joon-ho' returns with 'Aly' (ALLY), his first feature-length animated film in his filmography, following 'Mickey 17'. On the 3rd, global entertainment company 'CJ ENM' officially confirmed its investment and distribution for the project. Developed in secret from 2019 under the working title 'The Valley', this long-term project has emerged as a highly anticipated piece expected to shake up not only the Korean film industry, but also the global film market.

A deep-sea giant adventure—and the making of an unmistakable world

'Aly' takes place in a lightless deep-sea canyon and follows deep-sea creatures driven by fierce curiosity about the human world. Baby piglet-sized squid, 'Aly', and his friends—who share a big dream of reaching the sun and appearing on television—are swept up in the whirlwind of a massive adventure triggered by a mysterious plane crash incident. The focus will be on how 'Bong Joon-ho'’s sharp insight and original imagination are brought to life across the limitless canvas of animation.

Building a global dream team across 12 countries

The global production lineup—matching the project’s sweeping scale—is also drawing major attention. Director 'Yu Jae-sun', whose film 'Jamn' earned critical acclaim, joined the project as a screenwriter to heighten the story’s density. The global studio 'DNEG' (DNEG), responsible for the visual special effects of 'Inception' and 'Dune', is also on board. In addition, 12 top-tier artists from around the world were brought in, including 'Kim Jae-hyung', animation supervisor for 'Toy Story 4', Marcin Jakubowski, production designer for 'Klaus', and David Lipman, producer for 'Shrek'.

Synergy of global capital and a proven production team

For investment and distribution, 'CJ ENM' is leading the way together with Penzerinv est and France’s prominent film studio Pathé Films, with an aim for a global box-office hit. Overall production is handled by 'Barunson C&C', which previously showed perfect chemistry with director 'Bong Joon-ho' on 'Mother' and 'Okja'. 'Aly' is currently on track to complete production in the first half of next year.