{"id":4792,"date":"2026-07-24T04:08:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T04:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4792"},"modified":"2026-07-24T04:08:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T04:08:24","slug":"director-na-hong-jin-makes-comic-con-debut-with-frightening-new-hope-footage-says-casting-hoyeon-was-his-best-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4792","title":{"rendered":"Director Na Hong-Jin Makes Comic-Con Debut With Frightening New \u2018Hope\u2019 Footage, Says Casting Hoyeon Was His \u2018Best Decision\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\tSouth Korean director Na Hong-Jin made his San Diego Comic-Con debut to preview his latest film, Neon\u2019s alien action movie \u201cHope.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4790\">\u2018Batman: Caped Crusader\u2019 Season 2 Reveals Joker Voice Actor: \u2018House of the Dragon\u2019 Star Matthew Needham<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tBefore the action auteur took the stage in Ballroom 20, a sizzle reel of his previous work \u2014 from his 2008 debut \u201cThe Chaser\u201d\u00a0to \u201cThe Yellow Sea\u201d and \u201cThe Wailing,\u201d all set to Ozzy Osbourne\u2019s \u201cCrazy Train\u201d \u2014 played for the rapt audience. <\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cHope,\u201d Na said, \u201cis a continuation in terms of the same metaphor and the same meaning, but in terms of the style and the thought and the content is completely different. Any assumptions you have about my premises and my previous work, I would advise them to completely abandon it before [this one].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cHope\u201d is set in the remote village of Hope Harbor, where a mysterious creature has wreaked havoc. Police and local hunters set out to track the beast and find themselves hunted instead. But not all is as it seems. <\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe alien action movie stars Hoyeon, who broke out internationally thanks to her Emmy-nominated turn in Netflix\u2019s \u201cSquid Game.\u201d Na said was one of the best decisions he made in bringing the film, a 10 year passion project, to the big screen.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tHwang Jung-min, who leads the international cast, recommended Hoyeon for the role of a tenacious police officer. \u201cHe said that if you meet her, you realize how special of a person she is,\u201d Na said, explaining that he immediately set up a meeting. The director and star read the script while eating takeout and she quickly signed on for the role. \u201cThe funny thing is: Hwang Jung-min actually has never met her, or didn\u2019t even know her very well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4788\">Charli xcx Cranks Up the Guitars and Launches Her Post-\u2018Brat\u2019 Era With the Razor-Sharp \u2018Music, Fashion, Film\u2019: Album Review<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tHoyeon appeared in a special video message to introduce two clips that would play exclusively for the Comic-Con crowd. The first is a tense sequence where Hwang as he and a group of men shoot their way through the wreckage of their town \u2014 only to finally come face to face with the gigantic alien preying upon them. The second was an extended look at a chase scene where one character played by must leap from his horse into the police car \u2014 all while being chased down the highway by one of the fanged creatures. After the pulse-pounding clips ended, director Na revealed that these weren\u2019t the most difficult scenes to shoot: That honor belongs to another chase scene with the characters fleeing through the forest on horseback.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tNa also praised Hoeyon\u2019s performance in another scene and shared she spent six months learning to drive a manual stick-shift car. \u201cAfter six months, she reached a point where she could perform those drafts at very different, difficult angles too,\u201d he said. \u201cSo she was driving the car and doing all the performance herself, and I think the word \u2018difficult\u2019 is not enough to describe what was going on in that scene. My DP and I almost died of anxiety just watching her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tSpeaking of dying, during the Q&amp;A portion of the panel, Na teased that \u201c90%\u201d of the characters in the film might perish\u2026 but he won\u2019t reveal who. The exchange got a roar of laughter from the crowd.  <\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cHope,\u201d which also stars Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell and Cameron Britton, premiered in competition at this year\u2019s Cannes Film Festival, where it electrified audiences. Neon hopes to replicate that same success when releasing the film in the U.S. on Sept. 9. In Cannes, Na revealed that he had plans for a sequel.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cI think you can readily imagine this sequel. And there\u2019s a script that\u2019s already been done that I\u2019d like to shoot,\u201d he said during his Cannes press conference. \u201cSo if I have the opportunity, I would indeed make a sequel if possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4786\">\u2018The Big Bang Theory\u2019 Makes Triumphant Return to Comic-Con With \u2018Stuart Fails to Save the Universe\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At San Diego Comic-Con, South Korean director Na Hong-Jin previewed his latest film, Neon&#8217;s \u201cHope,&#8221; with help from star Hoyeon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3823,138,139,142,3651],"class_list":["post-4792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-comic-con-2","tag-hope","tag-hoyeon","tag-na-hong-jin","tag-san-diego-comic-con"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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