Hope Draws 330,000 on Opening Day, Breaking Records Set by 'The Wailing' and 'Exhuma'... "A Crazy Movie"

[Financial News] The film Hope drew 330,000 viewers on its opening day, the 15th. That marks the best opening score of the year and the highest first-day audience ever for a Na Hong-jin film.
According to distributor Plus M Entertainment on the 16th, Hope attracted 333,899 moviegoers on its opening day and topped the box office. That far exceeds the opening-day totals of The Chaser (113,673) and The Yellow Sea (120,482), and also surpasses The Wailing (310,042).
It also posted the best opening score of the year, drawing 130,000 more viewers than Colony's 199,762.
It even outperformed Exhuma, a 10-million-viewer hit, which drew 331,118 on its opening day, underscoring the overwhelming interest in the film.
Ahead of the release, a GV with Na Hong-jin and Lee Chang-dong was held on the 14th at Lotte Cinema World Tower in Songpa District.
Lee recalled an anecdote involving cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, who shot Hope, and said, "I asked him how it was, and he said, 'I made one crazy movie,' so I had a feeling. After watching it, I realized it really was a crazy movie." He added, "I thought Hope was a film at the peak of entertainment cinema. It delivers every element we can feel in a movie — tension, suspense, impact, and speed — beyond their limits. I felt truly grateful that someone made a film like this."
He also praised the film for its bold new approach, saying, "As someone who makes films, I was grateful that it opened a path no one had taken before. I felt so much about things beyond any boundary I had even imagined. I felt that it technically expanded and boldly pushed things we had not been able to do until now."
jashin@fnnews.com Shin Jin-a Reporter