Bong Joon-ho's First Animation 'ALLY' Gets First Look

After years of teases and speculation, the world finally has its first look at ALLY — the debut animated feature from Bong Joon-ho, the Korean director behind Parasite, Memories of Murder, and last year's Mickey 17. And the initial images suggest the Oscar winner is taking one of the biggest creative swings of his career.

CJ ENM officially announced on April 3 that ALLY is targeting a worldwide release in the first half of 2027. With a reported production budget of approximately 70 billion Korean won (roughly $48 million USD) — described as the largest ever for a Korean-funded film — this is an unmistakably ambitious global project.

Meet ALLY: A Deep-Sea Piglet Squid With a Big Dream

The newly released character images introduce the film's title character, ALLY, as an endearing creature with enormous eyes and a rounded, immediately lovable design. The character is modeled after the piglet squid (Helicocranchia pfefferi), one of the ocean's more whimsical-looking inhabitants, found at depths of several hundred meters and best known for the pattern of photophores beneath its mantle that resembles a perpetual smile.

In the film, ALLY lives in the deep sea with her friends, dreaming of one day seeing the sun directly — a wish she has never been able to fulfill from her lightless world. That peaceful existence is shattered when an unidentified aircraft crashes into the ocean, sending ALLY and her companions on an unexpected adventure toward the world above.

"It's a story about curiosity, longing, and the disruption of the known world," CJ ENM said in its announcement. "Bong Joon-ho's characteristic blend of realism, social metaphor, and dark humor will find a new canvas in the deep sea."

A Global Creative Collaboration of Unprecedented Scale

ALLY is not a solo Korean endeavor. CJ ENM is leading the project alongside French distributor Pathé Film, with Penture Invest handling sales for Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Macau — while Pathé manages distribution in all other territories. This multinational structure mirrors the ambition of the film itself.

The animation team is equally global. Kim Jae-hyung, a veteran animator who has worked on Toy Story 4 and Inside Out at Pixar, has joined ALLY as animation supervisor — a significant addition that signals Bong's commitment to technical world-class standards. The broader production involves top-tier animators from 12 countries.

The creative foundation of ALLY traces back to Claire Nouvian's non-fiction book The Deep, a photographic record of extreme deep-sea ecosystems captured by submersible robots capable of reaching depths of 6,000 meters. The film's look and design draw on real deep-sea biology — the kind of detailed environmental realism that Bong has always favored, now translated into animation form.

Why This Matters: After 'Mickey 17,' Bong's Next Act

ALLY arrives at a significant juncture in Bong Joon-ho's career. His most recent film, Mickey 17 (2025), starring Robert Pattinson, earned approximately $130 million globally against a production and marketing budget of around $118 million — widely considered a disappointing return given break-even estimates in the $240 to $300 million range.

Mickey 17 was the highly anticipated first film from Bong following his four Academy Award wins for Parasite in 2020, including Best Picture and Best Director. The pressure it carried was immense, and the box office outcome, while not a catastrophic loss, left some industry observers wondering about the director's next move.

ALLY appears to be that next move — and it is nothing like Mickey 17. Where Mickey 17 was a sprawling Hollywood sci-fi production with a large studio-driven apparatus, ALLY is a Korean-originated project led by Bong and his trusted local collaborators. The script features contributions from Yu Jae-sun, the writer behind the acclaimed Korean supernatural thriller Sleep (2023).

Development on ALLY actually predates Mickey 17 by years. CJ ENM confirmed that the project has been in development since 2019 — making it a passion project that Bong has been nurturing for nearly a decade. It was first teased publicly at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023, but details remained scarce until this week's official announcement and character reveal.

Fan and Industry Reaction: 'Already Adorable'

Social media response to the first ALLY character images has been immediate and enthusiastic. Korean entertainment communities quickly noted that the main character's wide-eyed, slightly bashful expression bears a striking resemblance to Bong himself — a comparison that has delighted fans. "She has his energy," one Twitter user wrote to thousands of likes.

More substantively, the announcement generated genuine excitement among animation fans and Korean cinema followers worldwide. The prospect of Bong Joon-ho applying his distinctive narrative sensibility — the layered social commentary, the unexpected tonal shifts, the tragicomic edge — to an animated deep-sea world is the kind of creative combination that feels genuinely unprecedented.

With 2027 as the target and a global release strategy already in place, ALLY may very well be the project that defines the next chapter of Bong Joon-ho's career. For now, fans have one very charming piglet squid to look forward to — and the knowledge that behind her, one of the world's most imaginative directors is doing what he does best: building a world unlike anything seen before.