With the Cannes Film Festival already in full swing, there’s exciting news about the buzzy sci-fi film “Hope” from Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin (“The Wailing”). A script for a follow-up to his latest effort (where Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander play aliens) has already been written, which should be a huge thrill to hear, and could be backed by current distributor NEON (which is releasing the movie in North America later this year).
“I think you can readily imagine this sequel. And there’s a script that’s already been done that I’d like to shoot. So if I have the opportunity, I would indeed make a sequel if possible,” the director said at the film’s press day panel at the French festival on Monday (via Variety).
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Others among the cast of the big-budget genre flick include Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Hoyeon Jung, Taylor Russell (“Bones and All”), and Cameron Britton (“Mindhunter”). Na’s new film “combines a gritty survival story with an original sci-fi mythology. Fassbender, Vikander, and Russell all play CGI aliens who are invading Earth.”
Vikander explains how she got involved with the project after being enthralled by Asian cinema at the Busan Film Festival when she was first starting out: “I just fell in love with Asian cinema.” Adding that she saw Na’s last release, “The Wailing,” and had been “utterly blown away” by it. After trying to work with Na on a different project, which never came together. The filmmaker “reached out two or three years later and said, ‘I have some aliens.’ And I was intrigued…I didn’t think, I said yes! I think director Na is incredible, such a visionary, and I felt very honored to be part of his film.”
The sensational “Hope” already had some strongly positive critical reactions over the weekend, so there is a really good shot that this second installment moves forward. That said, the movie will arrive in South Korean cinemas this summer, but North American audiences will have to wait until the fall, as confirmed in a teaser trailer released by NEON over the weekend.
While it’s extremely possible that “Hope 2” (we don’t have a concrete title yet) could be announced for the film’s domestic release, we’re likely not going to hear about a greenlight until they see how it performs with a general audience first.
Speaking of Fassbender, the actor was recently revealed as in talks to star in Brady Corbet’s (“The Brutalist”) next film, with Cate Blanchett also joining the ambitious but mysterious project, “Origin of the World.”
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