Na Hong-jin's 'Hope' surpasses 330,000 viewers on its opening day, the highest ever

Director Na Hong-jin breaks his own record for the first time in 10 years

Director Na Hong-jin's new film 'Hope' has taken the top spot at the box office immediately upon its release. Released on the 15th, 'Hope' climbed to number one at the box office, drawing 333,899 viewers in a single day. The cumulative number of viewers is 351,276.

This performance surpasses all the opening day records of Na Hong-jin's previous works, including 'The Chaser' (113,673), 'The Yellow Sea' (120,482), and 'The Wailing' (31,042). The director has broken his own personal best after 10 years.

Compared to the major films released this year, the start of 'Hope' is unrivaled. It surpassed 'Colony' (199,762), which recorded the highest opening score this year, and even exceeded the first-day audience of 'Exhuma' (330,118), which surpassed 10 million viewers. It also overtook the records of 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' (150,767) and 'The King's Warden' (117,783), which previously held top positions at the box office.

'Hope', which gained momentum with pre-orders approaching 600,000, ranked first in reservation rates even before its release. The 6,000 won movie discount coupons distributed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Film Council influenced the influx of viewers.

Jo In-sung's desperate survival action, passion revealed through character making

The movie 'Hope' tells the story of Beom-seok (played by Hwang Jung-min), the head of the Hopohang branch in the Demilitarized Zone, who faces an unbelievable reality after hearing news from village youths that a tiger has appeared. Jo In-sung plays the role of 'Seong-gi', a young man who does whatever job in Hopohang can make money.

The recently released character making video 'Seong-gi' edition captures Jo In-sung's struggle. He performed chase scenes set against the backdrop of Letezaat, Romania, and vast national roads, as well as equestrian action involving rapid gunfire while riding a horse. Jo In-sung described Seong-gi as "a character where you can see a survival instinct struggling to live." After finishing the work, he stated, "I was thinking that to do a work like this, I had to come in with great determination, and I poured all my energy into filming every single scene with care."

Currently, 'Hope' is playing in theaters nationwide. Following the previously released 'Seong-ae' edition, the 'Seong-gi' edition of the character making video has been released, and the 'Beom-seok' edition is scheduled to be released soon. Episode Company, which joined the latter half of this film, has proven its investment insight by making 'Hope' a hit following its first investment, 'Colony'. Episode Company is expanding its business across the entire content value chain through a strategy of connecting IP with commerce, celebrities, and marketing.

Box office number 2: 'MINIONS & MONSTERS'

The number two spot at the box office on the day of release was taken by 'MINIONS & MONSTERS'. This work drew 31,728 viewers, recording a cumulative total of 35,655. As a prequel and spin-off of 'Despicable Me', this film depicts the adventure of the Minion James Henry Edgar searching for a monster.

Third place was taken by 'Moana', which is recording a cumulative audience of 579,541, fourth place was 'The Eyes' (directed by Yeom Ji-ho) with a cumulative 1,338,905, and fifth place was 'Toy Story 5' which gathered 8,518 viewers.