[Weekend Movie Theater] Na Hong-jin’s New Film “Hope” Surpasses 330,000 on Opening Day… Biggest Record for Releases This Year

‘Hope’ opens a new chapter for Korean sci-fi… What an overwhelming opening score means

Director Na Hong-jin’s ambitious work ‘Hope’ has finally lifted the veil and is shaking up the movie-theater ecosystem. Lightly surpassing 300,000 viewers on its first day of release, it has set a new milestone in Korean film history.

According to data from the Integrated Computer Network for Movie Ticket Admissions on the 16th, ‘Hope’ drew about 333,000 viewers on only the day of its release, the 15th, and grabbed the top spot at the box office with an astonishing 81.3% share of sales. That mark surpasses the top opening score this year set by Director Yeon Sang-ho’s ‘Collective’ (about 199,000 viewers). It also smashes all the first-day records of Director Na Hong-jin’s previous works, ‘The Chaser’ (110,000), ‘Hwanghae’ (120,000), and ‘The Wailing’ (310,000), delivering the highest box-office performance of his career.

The film depicts a desperate battle against an unknown extraterrestrial life form that appears near the port of Hopo, close to the demilitarized zone. In addition to the hard-hitting action ensemble featuring top domestic stars such as Hwang Jung-min, Jo In-sung, and Jung Ho-yeon, Hollywood heavyweights including Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander joined the cast to create explosive synergy.

The CGV Egg Index, a measure of actual viewers, is currently at 81%. Given the unusual characteristics of the sci-fi genre—rare in the Korean film industry—audiences’ likes and dislikes are reportedly mixing, but praise from critics for the innovative attempt continues to roll in. The upcoming National Foundation Day holiday stretch is expected to become the decisive turning point for whether the film can sustain a long run.

Meanwhile, the theater scene in the same period is a one-man show by ‘Hope’. Box office No. 2 went to the animated feature ‘Minions & Monsters’, which attracted about 31,000 viewers, while the live-action ‘Moana’ (about 13,000) and the thriller ‘Eye-drops’ starring Min-a Shin (about 11,000) followed behind.

The box-office momentum is not expected to cool down anytime soon. As of 8 a.m. on the 16th, ‘Hope’’s real-time advance ticket sales rate stands at 63.3%, with the number of tickets booked nearing 552,000 viewers, keeping it firmly in first place. ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’, set to hit theaters on the 29th, recorded an 11.4% advance sales rate and remained in second.