South Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin confirms he has written a sequel for his genre thriller Hope which premiered in Competition at Cannes Film Festival last night (May 17).
“When you watch this film, I think you can readily imagine a sequel,” Na said in a press conference via a translator. “There is a story and a script that has already been written that I’d like to shoot.
“If I have the opportunity, I will indeed make a sequel. The ensuing storyline will perhaps have to be modified a bit, but in any event I would indeed like to film a sequel.”
Korean actors Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung and Jung Ho-yeon star in the film alongside Hollywood stars Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander.
On the decision to join the project, Vikander explained how she first fell in love with Asian cinema at Busan film festival and soon discovered Na’s films The Chaser, The Yellow Sea and The Wailing. When developing a project years later, the Danish actor approached Na to direct a film she was working on.
“He came on board, and we developed for a bit, and then in a very gentle manner, he came back, and he said: “So I have this very big, like, kind of sci-fi action adventure that I’ve had for 10 years, and it looks like people are going to give me some money to do it,” Vikander explained.
“But then he reached out two three years later, and said, I have some aliens, and I was intrigued, I didn’t think, I said yes, I think Na is incredible, such a visionary, and I felt very honoured to be part of his film.”
On Fassbender’s reasoning for joining the film, the Irish actor jokingly said: “Alicia told me to do it.” The pair have been married since 2017.
“What’s interesting about the filmmaking of director Na as well, is you don’t know what’s going to come next,” he added. “We’re used to Western cinema, where even though films are high-quality and great films, you kind of have an idea what the trajectory is going to be, where it’s going.
“Whereas with [Na], he’s mixing genres. At the beginning, it’s sort of like comedy, it can be kind of absurd, and then it becomes very real, and it’s just that sort of blending of different genres, that feeling of the unexpected, can be quite rare in the cinematic experience.”
Neon has acquired Hope for the United States.
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