South Korean director Na Hong-jin has returned to Cannes for the fourth time with his long-awaited sci-spectacular Hope in which a remote hunting community, situated on the edge of the untouched forests of the Korean Demilitarized Zone, is terrorized by the arrival of aliens.
With its tone taking inspiration from Hollywood hits such as Jaws, Die Hard and Lethal Weapon, the picture is two-hours and forty minutes of near non-stop action.
South Korean mega-star Hwang Jung-Min leads the cast as hapless police chief Boem Seok, opposite Squid Games breakout Hoyeon, as a steely younger officer, and Zo In-Sung in role of the leader of a group of hunters who venture into the forbidden forests in search of the uninvited guests.
They are joined in the cast by Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender, Taylor Russell and Cameron Britton, who have been transformed into the aliens through motion capture and CGI.
“The film deals with a story that is a bigger, much more extended narrative and I had an opportunity to talk to Alicia about it,” said Na of Vikander’s involvement. “Their metamorphosis was done through facial and motion capture at the same time.”
Na has said in the past that the film could be the first part of a franchise but it remains to be seen whether “the extended narrative” in his head will eventually reach the big screen.
Hwang, who previously appeared on Na’s Cannes 2016 Un Certain Regard-selected film The Wailing told the Deadline Studio that the suggestion of sequel had been one of the draws of the project for him.
“I thought maybe I would be doing this job for a longer time,” he said.
Na said the idea of the sequel was still on the back-burner, but nothing had been set in steel: “It is still in my mind, that doesn’t mean it will happen, but it’s still in my mind.”
To see the full conversation, click on the video above.
The Deadline Studio at Cannes is sponsored by SCAD.
