South Korean director Na Hong-Jin made his first-ever appearance at San Diego Comic-Con this week to preview his highly anticipated alien action film. Hoperevealing new images.
He credited the casting of Squid game star Hoyeon as one of the best decisions he made in bringing the decade-long passion project to the screen.
Before Na took the stage in Ballroom 20, a short reel of her back catalog was played in front of the audience, covering her 2008 debut. The hunter through The Yellow Sea And The lamentationsall set to that of Ozzy Osbourne Crazy train.
Introducing the tone of his new film, Na explained its relationship to his previous work: “Hope is a continuation in terms of the same metaphor and meaning, but in terms of style, thought and content, it is completely different.
Hope takes place in the isolated village of Hope Harbor, where a mysterious creature is wreaking havoc on the community, with local police and hunters deciding to track down the beast and finding themselves hunted.
Discussing how Hoyeon joined the international cast, Na explained that her co-star Hwang Jung-min was the one who first pushed to get her cast as a tenacious police officer.
“He said that if you meet her, you realize what a special person she is,” Na recalled, adding that he made a date with her soon after.
The director and star reportedly read the script together to take home, and she signed up shortly after.
Hope premiered out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year to strong reviews, currently holding an 80% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and features a large international ensemble including Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender, the latter three playing the film’s alien creatures.
Speaking about the film’s priority before release, action before release, Na has previously said that the project marked a deliberate departure from his previous, more dialogue-heavy work: “The story had to be felt through the action. Without dialogue or description, the action itself had to convey what the film wanted to say.”
Hope opens in U.S. theaters on September 9.
