Bong Joon-ho's Ally Set for July 2027 Release in South Korea, With France Opening July 14

A July release takes shape for Bong's animated debut

Bong Joon-ho's first animated feature, Ally, will open in South Korea in July 2027, production company Barunson C&C has announced. France has a specific release date, July 14, 2027, while a United States theatrical release is planned without a confirmed date.

The film brings together production talent from 12 countries, including South Korea, France and the United Kingdom. Its announced voice cast includes Bradley Cooper, Ayo Edebiri, Dave Bautista, Finn Wolfhard and filmmaker Werner Herzog. DNEG, the studio whose credits include Inception and Dune, is handling 3D animation.

At the center of the story is a small marine creature with ambitions far beyond her underwater home. Ally wants to see the sun and appear in a wildlife documentary. When a mysterious aircraft sinks into the ocean, she and her companions are drawn into a journey toward the surface.

The release announcement gives a firmer timetable to a project Bong has worked on for years, alongside his other filmmaking commitments. Completion is targeted for the first half of 2027, followed by theatrical releases that year. Ally will be his next feature after the 2025 science fiction film Mickey 17.

What is confirmed about the release?

Barunson C&C has confirmed the month of the South Korean opening, but has not disclosed the day. CJ ENM has also identified July 14 as the French release date. These announcements establish a July window in both countries without confirming whether audiences in South Korea will see the film before, after or on the same day as those in France.

One account describes France as opening after South Korea and the United States release as proceeding in stages. Without an exact Korean date or a dated American schedule, that sequence cannot yet be treated as settled. The broader plan is for the film to reach international audiences during the second half of 2027.

The key milestones announced or described so far are:

• 2018 or 2019: Accounts differ on when work on the project began.
• 2025: Mickey 17, Bong's most recent feature before Ally, was released.
• First half of 2027: The production is expected to be completed.
• July 2027: Ally is scheduled to open in South Korea, with no exact date announced.
• July 14, 2027: The French theatrical release is scheduled.
• Later in 2027: A wider international theatrical rollout is planned, including the United States.

The distinction between a release month and a confirmed date matters here. July 14 is the most precise booking announced, while the timing of other openings still needs to be filled in.

A squid with dreams of sunlight and television

Ally lives in an underwater canyon in the little explored depths of the South Pacific Ocean. She and the creatures around her are curious about humans and life above the water, even though their home lies far from sunlight.

The initial description called Ally a deepwater octopus. More detailed story announcements identify her as a piglet squid, with Korean descriptions referring to a baby piglet squid. Those descriptions provide the more specific identification of the lead character.

Her ambitions also become more precise across the story details. Wanting to appear on television is described in the fuller synopsis as dreaming of becoming the star of a wildlife documentary. That gives her interest in humans a concrete goal: she wants to be seen by the world she has never visited.

The aircraft's arrival changes that situation. Its sinking puts her underwater world in danger and sends Ally upward with a group of loyal but unlikely companions. The aircraft is described as mysterious, but its origin, occupants and connection to the wider plot have not been explained.

A family adventure built around real marine creatures

The production describes Ally as a family adventure combining underwater action, humor and emotional storytelling. Friendship and courage are central themes, with encounters between humans and marine creatures changing both worlds.

Its creature designs draw inspiration from real marine life. That does not make the film a documentary, but it gives its imagined characters a basis in animals from an environment many viewers rarely see. The setting and Ally's wish to appear in a documentary connect the story's fantasy to curiosity about the natural world.

Bong's interest in the project was inspired in part by Claire Nouvian's photographic book The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss. That detail helps explain why the ocean setting is more than a backdrop. The unusual appearance of animals living at depth is part of the starting point for the film's visual imagination.

The announced premise does not establish a specific environmental argument, even though it places human activity in direct contact with an underwater habitat. What is confirmed is a story in which an object from above disrupts life below, and a creature's curiosity becomes an urgent journey.

Who is joining the voice cast?

The announced ensemble includes Alex Jane Go, Ayo Edebiri, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Finn Wolfhard, Rachel House and Werner Herzog. The cast lists vary in length across reports, with some naming only part of that group. Their omissions do not establish that any of the other announced performers have left the film.

Herzog's participation adds another director to a project already led and co-written by filmmakers. He is identified as a voice performer, rather than as a member of the directing or writing team.

Character assignments have not been detailed in the announcements. Although Alex Jane Go appears prominently in one cast list, there is no confirmed basis to assign her, or any other named performer, to Ally in this account. Details of a Korean voice version have also not been announced.

The cast is therefore one of the clearest signs of the film's international reach, but it does not yet reveal how the characters will sound together or which actors will voice Ally's companions.

The artists behind the underwater world

The production team spans 12 countries, with several named artists bringing experience from major animated features. Jae Hyung Kim, also rendered as Kim Jae-hyung, is the animation supervisor. His previous credits include Toy Story 4 and Inside Out.

Marcin Jakubowski, whose credits include Klaus, is the production designer. That role helps establish the visual world of a film, including its environments and the relationship between characters and their surroundings. David Lipman, associated with the Shrek franchise, is identified as a supervising producer.

DNEG is handling 3D animation. Some announcements describe its involvement more broadly as visual effects work, while the fuller production descriptions specifically identify animation. Its credits on Inception and Dune establish experience with complex screen imagery, but do not by themselves tell audiences what Ally's finished style will look like.

A first image has been unveiled, although the announcements do not provide a detailed account of its contents. The confirmed use of 3D animation identifies the production technique, not whether the film will also receive a stereoscopic 3D theatrical release.

A long project alongside Bong's other films

Accounts differ on the beginning of Ally's development. The initial release account says Bong has been working on it since 2018, while two fuller production reports place the start in 2019. No explanation has been given for the difference, so the dates should not be merged into a single definitive starting point.

Either date makes Ally a project developed over many years. A 2018 beginning places its origins before the 2019 release of Parasite, while a 2019 beginning puts development in the same year as that film.

Bong drew the entire storyboard himself, continuing his practice of mapping out scenes in drawings before production. A storyboard sets out the planned sequence of images and actions, making it particularly useful when an animated film's world must be constructed rather than photographed on location.

Bong, the director and co-writer of Ally, has described the demands of making the film:

a very wild and tough job

He worked on the project in hotel rooms between festival jury duties and press tours for Mickey 17. That account shows how the animation developed alongside his public commitments and work on another feature, rather than as an entirely separate period in his career.

Jason Yu and Seo Woo-sik join familiar collaborations

Bong co-wrote Ally with Jason Yu, the director of the 2023 mystery horror film Sleep. The partnership follows another collaboration with a younger writer: Bong shared the screenplay credit for Parasite with Han Jin Won, who had previously worked as his production assistant.

Yu's participation is confirmed as a screenplay role. There is no announcement identifying him as a co-director of Ally, and his involvement does not establish that the animated film will share the horror approach of Sleep.

Barunson C&C is overseeing production, with Seo Woo-sik producing. Ally is Seo's third collaboration with Bong, following Mother in 2009 and Okja in 2017. The film therefore combines new international animation talent with an existing production relationship.

It is Bong's first animated feature, not the first animated feature made in South Korea. One headline describes it more broadly, but the production details support the narrower and relevant distinction: the director of Parasite is moving into feature animation for the first time.

How the international release is divided

CJ ENM, Penture Invest and Pathé are co-financing and distributing Ally. Their responsibilities cover different territories, creating a release network that extends beyond the two countries with July openings.

CJ ENM and Penture Invest will handle distribution in South Korea, Vietnam, Turkey and Indonesia. Pathé will release the film in France, Benelux, Switzerland and West Africa. Benelux refers to Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Pathé is also handling international sales outside Japan, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. CJ ENM and Penture Invest will manage sales in those excluded territories. International sales involve arranging rights with distributors in individual markets, so they are distinct from a confirmed local opening date.

NEON is identified as the North American distributor, renewing a connection with Bong after its involvement in the release of Parasite. The American opening date, theater count and any staged expansion have not been specified.

A reported budget estimate of as much as $60 million has circulated in the Korean film industry. That figure has not been confirmed as the production budget and should not be treated as an established record. The more concrete measures of the project's scale are its multinational team, named animation personnel and distribution agreements.

The next milestones are completion in the first half of 2027 and confirmation of the remaining release dates. Running time, detailed character credits and the final American release schedule are still unannounced.

Key Points

• Ally is scheduled for South Korean cinemas in July 2027, with the exact date still unannounced.
• France has a confirmed opening date of July 14, 2027.
• The story follows a piglet squid in the South Pacific whose journey begins when a mysterious aircraft sinks.
• Bong co-wrote his first animated feature with Sleep director Jason Yu.
• The production draws on talent from 12 countries, with DNEG handling 3D animation.
• The announced voice cast includes Bradley Cooper, Ayo Edebiri, Dave Bautista, Finn Wolfhard and Werner Herzog.
• Completion is targeted for the first half of 2027; the United States release date and reported budget remain unconfirmed.