This is a fabulous interview with Edward Ashton. They talk Bong Joon Ho at around 39:00, but the whole talk about the book is insightful and not spoilerish. Edward also mentions that he’s finished the sequal to Mickey7 and Mickey is still involved in it – not sure if that will translate to another film, but the book comes out in March 2023. I cannot wait to see Rob’s interpretation of this character:
“If you follow movie news and development then you’ve already heard of the sci-fi novel Mickey7. In 2020, Plan B, Brad Pitt’s production company, acquired the rights to it. Earlier this year it was announced that Oscar winning director, Bong Joon Ho, selected Mickey7 to be his next project with Robert Pattinson attached to star. And this all happened before the novel Mickey7 was even published.
The author, Edward Ashton, has numerous short stories published on his web site, http://www.edwardashton.com/. He’s also published in analog SF and the broken world science fiction anthology.
His first two novels, Three Days in April and The End of the Ordinary, were published by HarperCollins. Mickey7 is his first science fiction novel, and was published by St. Martin’s Press in Feb 2022. With Edward’s background in cancer research and teaching quantum physics on the graduate school level may lead one to think that Mickey7 is abstract and esoteric.
Instead the novel has fast paced action with life and death consequences. Yes, you do learn about science (as narrated by Mickey7 himself), but it is always in the context of the story. Ideas of immortality and identity are also explored in a thought provoking way. Jake and I had the great fortune to talk with Edward Ashton about Mickey7 in detail. We reached him at his cabin located in upstate New York where he lives with his wife and daughters.”
Great podcast, thanks Maria. Though I must say the author sounds a bit indifferent to what a gift it is with RP's involvement (just a more popular actor than another…). LOL, he will get a rude awakening about the fans later. And, there will be a sequel!
Hi there! I'm Ron from the Wrath of the iOtians podcast. Glad you liked the interview! We typically don't ask an author about their opinion about casting choices since there may be a chance it will be misinterpreted. After the interview we did ask him about it and I can tell you that he was incredibly happy about RP being cast as Mickey7. Edward saw RP on the US talk show called Jimmy Kimmel Live and told us he definitely was the right actor for Mickey and he thought it was going to be an amazing performance. I'm glad you brought this up because we've interviewed authors in the past and they always state that they'd rather not comment on the movie and casting choices because at that stage everything is out of their control. With Edward he has the fullest confidence in Bong Joon Ho and RP!. In the future when we do an author interview we'll ask if they are comfortable making commments about the movie version. So, thanks for the feedaback! Definitely get Mickey7 the book. You're learn so much more about the character. We only touched the surface so as not to spoil the book. I just saw The Batman and was blown away by it. RP owns the movie. I believe Mickey7 will become an iconic role for him. Thanks for listening to the podcast! If you like please mention your first name so we can thank you on our next episode!
Hi PM! We're glad you liked the interview! We typically don't ask authors about their thoughts/opinion on director or casting choices. We've had authors in the past who conveyed they'd rather not comment on anything in development. After the our interview with Edward Ashton he did tell us how incredibly happy he was that RP was cast as Mickey7 (and Mickey8) and he thought he was going to be fantastic! He mentioned that he saw RP on on late night talk show in the US called Jimmy Kimmel Live and Edward said as he watched it he knew RP was definitely the only actor who could play Mickey7. In the future we'll be sure to ask authors if they are comfortable sharing their commments on actors/movie in development. Thanks for the feedback! If you are comfortable please tell us your first name and we'll thank you in our next episode! (We can also just address you as PM). RP is going to make Mickey7 an iconic performance. Thanks for listening to the Wrath of the iOtians!
Hi Ron! Thanks for coming over and giving us more info. I'm definitely bought Mickey7 after commenting on twitter. It's the next book I have lined up to read. I don't typically like sci-fi novels, but I did read The Martian and loved the sarcasm in that and so when Edward said his snarkiness came through I was sold (even though I was really already sold when Rob signed on). It's so great to hear Edward's insight into what hethinks about Rob. I also loved that you got him to admit there is a sequel in the works. I'll pop back and tell you what I thought of the book once I've read it.
As I said it was a great interview. So thank you again.