Na Hong-Jin’s Hope, which premiered in competition at this year’s Cannes film festival, raced past 2 million admissions on its five-day opening weekend in Korea, faster than any film released so far this year, according to data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).
The film, which opened on July 15 ahead of the three-day Constitution Day holiday weekend, passed the 2 million admissions benchmark during the day on Sunday, faster than The King’s Warden which went on to sell 16.9 million tickets to become the highest-grossing Korean film of all time. It also outpaced the opening of Yeon Sang-ho’s Colony, which debuted in Cannes Special Screenings, and passed the 2 million benchmark on the evening of its fifth day.
Also supporting Hope’s opening weekend, the Korean government issued a new round of discount coupons offering $3.90 (KRW6,000) off a ticket just one week before the film’s release.
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Distributed by Plus M Entertainment, Hope stars Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander in the tale of a small Korean town that encounters an invasion of powerful extraterrestrial beings.
The film has sparked significant debate amongst audiences, with 53% of viewers giving it a 9 or 10 rating on Naver, while around a quarter took issue with the lack of world-building, high levels of profanity and ambiguous ending. Na’s 2016 occult thriller The Wailing was also a polarising film but drew close to seven million admissions.
Korean press is reporting that the film, billed as the most expensive Korean film ever, would have to sell around 20 million tickets to break even in theatres alone, although it has also secured presales in around 200 overseas territories. Much is riding on the success of the film as Plus M Entertainment is one of a group of companies under JoongAng Group that recently filed for bankruptcy protection.
Also opening at the Korean box office over the weekend, Minions & Monsters came in second with 308,576 admissions, followed by live-action Moana with 173,555 admissions on its second weekend, and Toy Story 5, which opened June 17, with 114,718 admissions.
