After a 10-year hiatus, critically acclaimed director Na Hong-Jin returns to the director’s chair with Hope, an upcoming sci-fi thriller heading to U.S. theaters on September 9th from Neon.
If you’re not familiar with Na Hong-Jin, maybe you’re familiar with his work. In 2008, the South Korean filmmaker shook the world with his debut feature film, The Chaser. In 2010, he showed us that he wasn’t a one-hit wonder with The Yellow Sea. Then in 2016 came The Wailing, where Na proved his cinematic prowess while tackling the occult subgenre.
The Wailing was the last full length feature we saw from the director, with only brief reminders of his work since. He later produced and co wrote the 2021 Thai horror film The Medium, and released the short film Faith, which also served as a showcase for the Galaxy S23 Ultra as a tool for professional filmmaking.
His new film, Hope, centers on Hope Harbor, a remote village near the Demilitarized Zone, where police chief Bum-seok receives alarming news from local youths that a tiger has appeared. As the village erupts into panic, Bum-seok is forced to confront a reality beyond belief (via Deadline).
Hope features an all-star, international cast that includes Hwang Jung-min (Deliver Us From Evil), Zo In-sung (Humint), Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl), Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave), Jung Ho-yeon (Squid Game), Taylor Russell (Escape Room) and Cameron Britton (Umbrella Academy). Cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo (Parasite, Burning), who worked with Na on The Wailing, is also on board.
Hot Take: The good news is that Na Hong Jin has a new film on the way. The bad news? Knowing him, it could be another three to ten years before we see the next one.
U.S. distributor Neon will release Hope on September 9th. Until then, don’t miss the film’s New U.S Trailer below, followed by recent ones:
Cannes press conference, followed by the Trailers for Na’s previous work, including his short film Faith:
More posters for Hope:
Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender only have small parts in this movie (we all know what “WITH … AND …” mean in a poster.
Hwang Jung-min is the star of the movie.
Title no relation to an upcoming Avengers movie.
CGI is a little iffy but it still looks cool. I’ll watch this.
Yeah, they’re about 15 years behind for sure. But the main event for me here is Na Hong-Jin. Could the effects be bad on purpose?
Kudos to whoever cut this trailer for keeping Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender out of it. They already get more than enough attention in mainstream Hollywood. Let the korean cast have the spotlight. Now we just have to make Trump disappear.