HOPE Tops Box Office for 9th Consecutive Day... Second-Weekend Performance is Key

The movie HOPE (directed by Na Hong-jin) has maintained its position as the number one box office hit for the 9th consecutive day.

According to the Korean Film Council's integrated ticketing computer network statistics on July 24, HOPE drew 115,010 moviegoers nationwide on July 23, bringing its cumulative audience to 2,648,443.

Released on July 15, HOPE enjoyed a box office run by surpassing 1 million viewers in 3 days and 2 million in 5 days, but its momentum has slowed somewhat entering the weekdays of its second week. Daily attendance dropped to the 110,000 range, recording its lowest performance since release.

Its performance this weekend is crucial for surpassing the break-even point of 7 million viewers. The point of interest is whether the film can reach the 3 million and even 4 million milestones through attendance on Saturday and Sunday. Since Spider-Man: Brand New Day is scheduled to be released next week and is showing overwhelming strength in advance ticket sales, the film must gather as many viewers as possible while there are no competitors.

The polarized reactions to the film from the beginning, as well as the rainy season, are expected to act as variables for its box office success.

HOPE tells the story of Beom-seok (Hwang Jung-min), the head of the branch office in Hopohang located in the Demilitarized Zone, who hears news from local youths that a tiger has appeared and encounters an unbelievable reality as the entire village goes on high alert. Directed by Na Hong-jin, who made The Chaser and The Wailing, the film stars Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and Jung Hoyeon.

(SBS Entertainment News, Reporter Kim Ji-hye)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.