After Cannes, 'Hope' director is focusing on postproduction ahead of Korean release

Director Na Hong-jin’s bid for the Palme d’Or with his sci-fi action thriller “Hope” came up short as the film left the 79th Cannes Film Festival without an award at the closing ceremony at the Grand Théâtre Lumière in Cannes, southern France, on Saturday.

With the festival's conclusion, Na, who remained in Cannes through its closing day, plans to focus on preparations for the film’s domestic release this summer, according to the film's distributor, Plus M Entertainment. His utmost goal now is to maximize the film’s quality during postproduction before it hits theaters.

"We now have roughly two months remaining before the film meets Korean audiences," Na said. "From now on is the decisive stage of the final postproduction process.”

In fact, attending Cannes was “a decision made out of gratitude for Cannes’ repeated invitations at the most critical stage of postproduction,” according to the production team. The film reportedly initially declined an invitation from Cannes while in postproduction ahead of its scheduled release, before ultimately deciding to participate after repeated invitations from the festival and even a significant extension of the submission deadline.

When "Hope" premiered at the festival, many pointed out that the sci-fi flick was "the first competition film with this many corpses and bullets," soon earning mentions as a dark horse after its first screening on May 17, as the festival entered its midway point.

Reportedly the most expensive Korean film ever made, "Hope" depicts a bloody battle between aliens that crash-land unexpectedly and residents of the remote village of Hopo Port near the demilitarized zone in the 1980s. The mere fact that a sci-fi action thriller like “Hope” was screened in Cannes’ competition section — typically dominated by auteur-driven films emphasizing directors’ autobiographical anguish or political messages — is itself considered groundbreaking.

In fact, genre-heavy Korean films such as Yeon Sang-ho’s “Colony” and “Train to Busan” (2016) and Ryoo Seung-wan’s “I, the Executioner 2” (2024) had previously been invited mainly to the Midnight Screenings section. Na, whose previous films had all been invited to Cannes, first stepped onto the festival stage when his debut feature “The Chaser” (2008) was screened in the Midnight Screenings section.

The British Film Institute noted that it was “unlikely a movie with quite the same kill count or expended ammunition has ever played in competition at Cannes,” comparing it to George Miller’s apocalyptic action film “Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015).

The institute noted that many believed “Mad Max” was excluded from competition in 2015 despite being fully qualified because of the stereotype that “'action cinema' was not suited to the festival." And although "'Hope' is not quite at the level of 'Fury Road,' from which it undoubtedly takes inspiration," there is still "no reason this shouldn’t take its place among the crème de la crème," according to the institute.

Still, the threshold for winning at Cannes remained high for the action-heavy “Hope.” Some critics said the computer-generated alien that first appears more than one hour into the film, as well as the narrative surrounding the residents of Hopo Port and the aliens, lacked refinement.

Na announced that he plans to revise the Cannes version for the theatrical release in an apparent attempt to reflect reactions from Cannes audiences and critics.

For Korean cinema, “Hope” is also meaningful in that it broadened a landscape in which Cannes competition invitations had largely been limited to established auteurs such as Lee Chang-dong, Hong Sang-soo, Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho. Some observers also say that simply premiering in Cannes’ competition section — where global attention is concentrated — generated astronomical promotional effects for the film.

The overseas distribution rights for “Hope” are now effectively locked up, setting a Korean film record for rights sales, according to insiders. Following its Korean release expected around July, the film is set for a North American release this fall through Neon, the distributor behind “Parasite” (2019).

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY NA WON-JEONG [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]