“Life in the oceans must be sheer hell,” says Werner Herzog in his Lessons of Darkness. “A vast, merciless hell of permanent and immediate danger.” That isn’t going to stop him from diving into the infernal depths for a new film with Bong Joon-ho, however.
The Parasite director announced he was making an animated film on “the drama that arises between deep sea creatures and human beings” all the way back in 2021. Now, three years, later, Herzog has revealed in an interview with Variety that he will contribute his iconic Bavarian voice to the hand-drawn feature, which is reportedly set to enter production later this year.
As yet untitled, the mysterious film is also set to become the most expensive production in Korean film history, with an estimated cost that translates to just over £40 million, though this still pales in comparison to equivalent Hollywood budgets. Herzog should be a safe pair of hands (or vocal chords) however, with a number of voice acting roles under his belt, from the Simpsons, to animated shows like the Boondocks and Rick and Morty.
Bong Joon-ho is also currently working on post-production for his upcoming sci-fi film Mickey 17, starring Robert Pattinson. Despite being postponed to a 2025 release, the film’s first full trailer was recently aired at CinemaCon, though it’s yet to hit the internet.
Werner Herzog, meanwhile, recently announced a new film accelerator programme – alongside his longtime cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger – on the volcanic island La Palma, in the Canary Islands. Aged 81, he also recently finished a full-length documentary titled Theater of Thought (featuring multimillionaire and aspirational immortal Bryan Johnson) with another in pre-production.
If you can’t wait for Bong Joon-ho’s subaquatic Werner Herzog collaboration, you can revisit the teaser trailer for the director’s Mickey 17 to tide you over, below.
