South Korean director Na Hong-Jin made his San Diego Comic-Con debut to preview his latest film, Neon’s alien action movie “Hope.”
Before the action auteur took the stage in Ballroom 20, a sizzle reel of his previous work — from his 2008 debut “The Chaser” to “The Yellow Sea” and “The Wailing,” all set to Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” — played for the rapt audience.
“Hope,” Na said, “is 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].”
“Hope” 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.
The alien action movie stars Hoyeon, who broke out internationally thanks to her Emmy-nominated turn in Netflix’s “Squid Game.” Na said was one of the best decisions he made in bringing the film, a 10 year passion project, to the big screen.
Hwang Jung-min, who leads the international cast, recommended Hoyeon for the role of a tenacious police officer. “He said that if you meet her, you realize how special of a person she is,” 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. “The funny thing is: Hwang Jung-min actually has never met her, or didn’t even know her very well.”
Hoyeon 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 — 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 — 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’t the most difficult scenes to shoot: That honor belongs to another chase scene with the characters fleeing through the forest on horseback.
Na also praised Hoeyon’s performance in another scene and shared she spent six months learning to drive a manual stick-shift car. “After six months, she reached a point where she could perform those drafts at very different, difficult angles too,” he said. “So she was driving the car and doing all the performance herself, and I think the word ‘difficult’ is not enough to describe what was going on in that scene. My DP and I almost died of anxiety just watching her.”
Speaking of dying, during the Q&A portion of the panel, Na teased that “90%” of the characters in the film might perish… but he won’t reveal who. The exchange got a roar of laughter from the crowd.
“Hope,” which also stars Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell and Cameron Britton, premiered in competition at this year’s 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.
“I think you can readily imagine this sequel. And there’s a script that’s already been done that I’d like to shoot,” he said during his Cannes press conference. “So if I have the opportunity, I would indeed make a sequel if possible.”
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