Get your giant bucket of popcorn ready, because horror lovers and thrill-seekers are getting the ultimate holiday weekend treat. NEON is giving audiences the chance to experience visionary writer-director Na Hong-jin’s (The Wailing) highly anticipated creature feature Hope two days before the rest of the world. While the film officially stomps into theaters on September 9, fans can catch an exclusive early-access screening on Monday, September 7. The screenings will spread across 175 Premium Large Format (PLF) locations nationwide.
Maximum Formats for Maximum Terror
Building on the wild success of NEON’s early-access strategy for Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey. Hope feels practically engineered for the biggest screens and loudest sound systems available. The one-night event will feature six different high-octane formats, including Dolby Cinema, 4DX, ScreenX, Barco HDR, D-BOX, and Dolby Atmos. Whether you want your seat rumbling during a monster attack or panoramic visuals surrounding your peripheral vision, participating theaters in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, and beyond have you covered. Tickets are on sale now, so securing a seat before they sell out is a top priority.
What Lurks in the Woods?
The film follows police outpost chief Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) and officer Sung-ae (Hoyeon) as they investigate a trail of violent, unexplainable attacks. The culprit appears to be a mysterious creature lurking deep within the nearby forest. However, when local hunters join the search, the boundary between predator and prey quickly dissolves. It turns a local investigation into a nerve-shredding fight for survival. One that challenges basic assumptions about fear, humanity, and the unknown.
A Mind-Bending Genre Mashup
If the terrifying premise isn’t enough to get blood pumping, the stacked international cast certainly will. Joining Hwang Jung-min and Hoyeon are star powerhouses Zo In-sung (Moving). Taylor Russell (Bones and All), Cameron Britton (The Umbrella Academy), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), and Michael Fassbender (Prometheus) join the fight.
Hope already blew minds and earned a standing ovation at its Cannes Film Festival World Premiere back in May, where festival director Thierry Frémaux teased that the film constantly shifts genres to craft a story unlike anything ever put on screen. Mark those calendars for September 7, because this is one cinematic nightmare you won’t want to wait for.
