Na Hongjin's "Hope" Surpasses 2 Million Amid Mixed Reviews... 1.5 Million Viewers on Opening Weekend

Topped the Weekend Box Office (July 17-19)

Still from the movie 'Hope'. Provided by Plus M Entertainment

Director Na Hong-jin's new film "Hope" attracted 1.5 million moviegoers in its opening weekend, and surpassed 2 million cumulative viewers on its fifth day in theaters. This is the fastest pace among this year's releases.

According to the integrated box office computer network operated by the Korean Film Council as of July 20, "Hope" drew 1,504,019 viewers during the past weekend (July 17-19), ranking first at the box office. Its market share based on box office revenue was 66.6%. Since its release on July 15, it has accumulated a total audience of 2,129,726 people.

Distributor Plus M Entertainment announced that "Hope" surpassed the 2 million cumulative audience mark at around 1 p.m. on its fifth day, July 19. That day alone, the final audience count was 397,019.

"Hope" surpassed 1 million viewers on its third day of release and went on to surpass 2 million on its fifth day. This is a faster pace than "Goonche," which broke the 2 million mark in the evening of its fifth day. Both the 1 million and 2 million milestones were reached in the shortest period among this year's film releases.

"Hope" is an SF film from Director Na, released ten years after "The Wailing" (2016). The story unfolds as mysterious life forms appear in a village called Hopohang, located in the Demilitarized Zone. The cast includes Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Michael Fassbender, and Alicia Vikander.

The actors' action scenes and the film's suspenseful direction have received positive feedback, but some viewers criticize the frequent profanity and claim that the plot in the latter half is difficult to follow. On its third day, the CGV Egg Index, reflecting actual audience ratings, posted an 81% score.

"Minions & Monsters" ranked second in the weekend box office, drawing 308,576 viewers from July 17 to 19, with a cumulative total of 374,785. "Moana" ranked third with 173,555 moviegoers during the same period and a cumulative audience of 772,104. "Toy Story 5" was fourth, drawing 114,718 viewers, bringing its cumulative total to 2,750,183.

As of 10 a.m. that day, "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" had 237,709 advance reservation ticket holders, placing it first in real-time ticketing share. "Hope" was close behind with 129,283 advance reservation ticket holders.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.