Bong Joon Ho 'Ally' Release Date: France July 14, 2027

Bong Joon Ho's first animated feature, "Ally," will open in France on July 14, 2027, CJ ENM said Friday. A South Korean release is set for the same month, and a U.S. release is planned. No U.S. date has been announced.

The film follows Ally, a baby piglet squid who lives in the deep South Pacific, dreams of seeing the sun and wants to star in a wildlife documentary. Her world is upended when an aircraft crashes into the ocean, and she and her friends set off for the surface.

The voice cast includes Bradley Cooper, Ayo Edebiri, Dave Bautista, Finn Wolfhard, Alex Jayne Go, Rachel House and Werner Herzog, according to Variety's earlier casting report. Bong directs and co-wrote the script with Jason Yu, the Korean director of "Sleep," whose Korean name is Yoo Jae-sun. Seo Woo-sik, who produced Bong's "Mother" and "Okja," is producing.

CJ ENM said talent from 12 countries is working on the film. Kim Jae-hyung, whose credits include "Toy Story 4" and "Inside Out," is animation supervisor. Marcin Jakubowski, the production designer on Netflix's "Klaus," is overseeing production design, and DNEG, the effects studio behind "Inception" and "Dune," is handling the 3D computer animation.

The film has been in development since 2019. CJ ENM, Penture Invest and Pathé co-finance it. Pathé distributes in France, the Benelux countries, Switzerland and West Africa, and CJ ENM and Penture handle South Korea, Vietnam, Turkey and Indonesia. NEON, the U.S. distributor behind Bong's "Parasite," holds North American rights and has said it will release the film in 2027.

Earlier reports pointed to the second half of 2027 for a worldwide release. The French date puts the opening on July 14, which is also France's national day.

The announcement as reported gives only the month for South Korea, not a day. For Bong, the film follows "Mickey 17," his sci-fi feature that reached theaters in March 2025, and comes more than six years after "Parasite" won the best picture Oscar in 2020.

Bong has not made an animated film before, but animals and creatures are a recurring part of his work, from the title animal in "Okja" to the monster in "The Host." Ally gives that habit a whole film.

American audiences will have to wait for a date, since July 14 in France is the only full date confirmed so far. The next piece of information to watch is NEON's: it has not said which date in 2027 "Ally" will reach U.S. theaters.