Bong Joon Ho's Mickey 17 topped the box office in its first weekend of release, earning $19.1 million from March 7 to March 9. The Warner Bros. movie starring Robert Pattinson came in slightly under its $20 million forecast.

Five years after making history with his Oscar triumph for "Parasite," Bong Joon-ho has returned to Hollywood filmmaking with Warner Bros.' "Mickey 17," a star-studded sci-fi satire about how capitalism can create demagogues and cheapen human life.

Of course Bong Joon Ho is an environmentalist. He recycles his own ideas. "Mickey 17," a sloppy but enjoyable sci-fi comedy set in the year 2054, mashes together the monsterphobia of "The Host," the animal-rights activism of "Okja,