South Korean director Na Hong-jin wowed audiences in Cannes with hi-octane sci-fi thriller Hope in which a remote community, situated on the edge of Korean Demilitarized Zone, is terrorized by the arrival of aliens.
Neon, which swooped on North America, the U.K and Australian rights ahead of the film’s Cannes competition premiere, has unveiled a first trailer ahead of a scheduled September 9 release.
The cast features Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell and Cameron Britton as angry aliens, alongside Korean mega-star Hwang Jung-Min as an inept police chief, Squid Games breakout Hoyeon as a steely female officer, and Zo In-Sung as a hunter who ventures into the forbidden KDZ forests in search of the uninvited guests.
With Na tapping into Hollywood action classics such as Steven Spielberg’s Duel and Jaws, as well as Die Hard and Lethal Weapon for inspiration, the movie is an adrenalin-fuelled ride with strong crossover potential.
Reviewing the film out of Cannes, Deadline chief film critic Pete Hammond described Hope as “a sci-fi alien monster mash… that never lets up for a minute of its two-hour, 40-minute running time and out-Hollywoods anything of its kind made by Hollywood.”
