EXCLUSIVE: A hot project just got hotter. Emmy-nominated Korean actress and model Hoyeon, who made waves with Netflix’s Squid Game, is set to make her feature debut in director Na Hong-Jin’s Korean thriller Hope, which we revealed earlier today.
She joins Oscar winner Alicia Vikander and Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender.
This is the first project from acclaimed Korean director Na since 2016 hit The Wailing, and it’ll mark Hoyeon’s first starring role in a Korean project since she made her screen debut in Squid Game.
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The largely Korean-language film will follow the residents of Hopo Port, where a mysterious discovery is made on the outskirts of the remote harbor town. Before long, the residents find themselves in a desperate fight for survival against something they have never encountered before. Hoyeon will play a police woman.
Additional casting and pre-production is underway for a shoot later this year in Korea. We understand husband and wife Fassbender and Vikander will speak English in the film and wanted to take part after being impressed by the director’s previous work. It will mark the second time they’ve appeared together in the same film after The Light Between Oceans.
Korean producer-distributor Plus M Entertainment, owned by multiplex chain Megabox, is behind the project after recently inking a financing and distribution deal with Na, also known for Korean movies The Chaser and The Yellow Sea.
Cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, known for his work on Parasite and Burning, is also on board, marking his second collaboration with Na after The Wailing.
Hope sounds like it will be cut from similar cloth to the filmmaker’s previous films, all of which have been box office hits. 2016 thriller The Wailing played at Cannes before making $50M globally off an estimated $6M budget. That film charted how a mysterious sickness starts spreading after a stranger arrives in a village. A policeman, drawn into the incident, is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter.
Pic will be produced under Na’s production banner Forged Films. Plus M is handling international sales and UTA Independent Film Group and Plus M are handling North America. The Korean firm is already eyeing additional IP opportunities for the project.
“Everything about Hoyeon aligned with what I envisioned for Sung-Ae,” said Na. “Her bold, bright energy will be a great source of strength for this film.”
Hoyeon was already a modeling star when she became the first non-English language performer to win Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series at the SAG Awards for Squid Game. She was also the first Korean nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series at the Emmy Awards. Following her screen breakout, there was a race among Hollywood agencies to sign her. CAA won out.
She will next be seen in Alfonso Cuaron’s Apple TV+ thriller series Disclaimer and is set to make Joe Talbot’s film The Governesses with Lily-Rose Depp and Renate Reinsve after she makes Hope.
In 2013 she was a runner up in Korea’s Next Top Model and has starred in campaigns for brands such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, Lancome and Adidas. She has walked runways for Burberry, Jean Paul Gaultier, Miu Miu, Gucci, Oscar de la Renta, Roberto Cavalli, Schiaparelli and many others.
Hoyeon is represented by CAA, and Sloane, Offer.
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