# Na Hong-Jin’s Cannes Competition Title ‘Hope’ Has Strong Opening At Korean Box Office 

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/na-hong-jins-cannes-competition-title-hope-has-strong-opening-at-korean-box-office/
- Published: 2026-07-20T08:55:52+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-21T00:06:01+00:00
- Original publisher: Deadline
- Original article: https://deadline.com/2026/07/na-hong-jin-hope-cannes-competition-korean-box-office-1236998204/
- Topics: Asia, Entertainment, Film, World

## Key points

- Na Hong-Jin's Cannes title "Hope" tops 2 million Korean admissions fastest this year
- Film's success is crucial as distributor Plus M's parent faces bankruptcy
- Needs roughly 20 million tickets to break even domestically

## Summary

Na Hong-Jin's science-fiction film "Hope", which premiered in competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival, has had a strong opening at the South Korean box office, surpassing 2 million admissions faster than any other film released so far in 2026. The result matters for its distributor, Plus M Entertainment, part of the JoongAng Group, which recently filed for bankruptcy protection, meaning much rides on the film's continued commercial success.

According to the Korean Film Council, "Hope" passed the 2 million ticket threshold during its five-day opening weekend, which began on 15 July and coincided with the Constitution Day holiday, aided by government discount coupons worth $3.90 off tickets. Reported as the most expensive Korean film ever made, it stars Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, and would reportedly need around 20 million admissions to break even domestically, though it has also secured presales in roughly 200 overseas territories. The film has proved divisive, with 53% of Naver users rating it 9 or 10 while others criticised its lack of world-building, profanity and ambiguous ending, echoing the polarised reception of Na's 2016 hit "The Wailing".

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.