Bong Joon Ho Reunites With Neon for First Animated Film ALLY
There’s something pretty exciting brewing in the world of animation, and it’s coming from one of the most inventive filmmakers working today.
Bong Joon Ho is teaming up once again with Neon, the studio that helped bring Parasite to global dominance, for his very first animated feature, Ally. The project has been quietly developing for years, and now it’s officially set to make waves with a planned theatrical release in 2027.
Neon has secured North American rights to the film, marking a reunion that feels like a natural fit after their massive success together on Parasite, which won Best Picture at the Oscars, and also pulled in over $250 million worldwide. Since then, Bong has kept busy, most recently with Mickey 17, his sci-fi satire for Warner Bros.
With Ally, Bong is diving into something completely new. He’s directing and co-writing the film with Jason Yu, known for Sleep, and the story sounds like a heartfelt adventure with a unique twist.
The film centers on a piglet squid living deep in the South Pacific Ocean, a curious and lovable creature who dreams of seeing the sun and becoming the subject of a wildlife documentary. That peaceful dream gets disrupted when a mysterious aircraft crashes into her underwater world, setting off a chain of events that puts everything at risk.
The official description paints it as a “family adventure blending humor and emotion,” and promises a story “inspired by remarkable real-life marine creatures” that “explores themes of friendship and courage, as encounters between humans and the creatures of the deep reshape both worlds.”
This marks the sixth collaboration between Bong and Neon CEO Tom Quinn, and their first time working together since Parasite. It’s also another step in Bong’s long-running partnership with producer Seo Woo-sik, who returns after working with the director on Mother and Okja.
On the production side, the film is being backed by CJ ENM, Penture Invest, and Pathé, with Barunson C&C overseeing production. Distribution is being split across multiple regions, with Pathé handling parts of Europe and Africa, while CJ ENM and Penture take on key territories across Asia and beyond.
Meanwhile, Neon is gearing up for a big presence at the Cannes Film Festival, where it’ll showcase a slate that includes Na Hong-jin’s Hope, Arthur Harari’s The Unknown, Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden, and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Sheep in the Box in competition, along with Nicolas Winding Refn’s Her Private Hell screening out of competition.
For Bong Joon Ho, Ally sounds like a fascinating new chapter. He’s built a career jumping between genres and tones, and now he’s bringing that same creative energy into animation. I
f his track record is anything to go by, this isn’t going to be your typical family film. It’ll probably be weird, emotional, original, and fun.