Na Hong-jin’s Hope has become the third biggest film of the year to date at South Korea’s box office after just two weekends on release.
The action thriller added $5.5m from 767,367 admissions on its second weekend of release and has a cumulative box office of $25.4m from 3,415,711 admissions, according to Korean Film Council tracking service Kobis.
This places the title third in South Korea’s 2026 box office to date, only behind Yeon Sang-ho’s zombie thriller Colony, which has taken $42.6m (5.9 million admissions) and period drama The King’s Warden with a staggering $111m (16.9 million admissions).
The performance was enough to land Hope a place in the worldwide top 10, despite it being on release in just one territory.
However, while maintaining a revenue share of 66.8% from 2,258 screens, takings were down 51.7% week-on-week, following a record-breaking opening weekend of $11.4m.
The film is on track to become director Na’s biggest title to date. It has already earned more than his 2008 debut The Chaser, which grossed $22.9m, and second feature The Yellow Sea, which took $11.8m in 2010. His third film, The Wailing, grossed $37.6m from almost 7 million admissions in 2016.
Hope follows a police chief in a remote harbour town who leads the charge against otherworldly monsters in a desperate bid for survival. The cast is led by Korean stars Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung and Jung Ho-yeon alongside Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander. It premiered in Competition at Cannes and Neon is set to release in the US on September 9.
With no major new releases opening at the weekend, the subsequent three films in the box office exactly mirrored their positions from last week.
Universal Pictures animation Minions & Monsters held second place, adding a further $795,051 from 117,916 admissions in its second weekend for a cume of $3.9m.
Disney’s live-action Moana also maintained its third place, adding $594,644 for a cume of $6.7m since opening on July 8.
Toy Story 5 ranked fourth again, adding $377,447 on its sixth weekend for a cume of $19.9m.
Animated Biblical musical David rose to fifth, earning $303,213 on its second weekend for a cume of nearly $1.5m. The David and Goliath story is a US feature co-directed by Brent Dawes and Phil Cunningham.
Japanese animation Dream Animals The Movie was the highest charting new release, ranking seventh with a gross of $92,948 from 24,404 admissions. It has taken $149,257 since its release on July 24.
Colony ranked ninth, despite being on release since May 21. It added $27,936 for a cume of $42.7m from 5.95 million admissions.
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