MUBI Acquires Na Hong-jin’s Hope Ahead of Cannes Premiere

Michael Fassbender and Hoyeon lead a town into chaos in Na Hong-jin’s thriller Hope.

MUBI Acquires Na Hong-jin’s ‘Hope’ Ahead of Cannes Competition Premiere

As the Cannes market ramps up, MUBI continues to make aggressive moves—this time securing one of the most anticipated titles heading into the festival.

The platform has acquired multiple international territories for Hope, the latest genre-bending thriller from Na Hong-jin, the director behind The Wailing and The Yellow Sea. The deal covers Latin America, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Turkey, while NEON previously locked in U.S. rights.

Set to premiere in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival, Hope marks a major return for Na Hong-jin, whose work has consistently blended visceral horror with grounded human tension. This time, he expands that formula into a larger-scale sci-fi action framework—without losing the unsettling tone that defines his style.

The film boasts a globally stacked cast led by Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and Hoyeon, alongside international stars Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell, and Cameron Britton.

On paper, the premise starts deceptively simple: a police officer responds to reports of a tiger appearing in the hills, triggering panic in a small town. But as expected with Na’s storytelling, that setup quickly unravels into something far more complex—and far more disturbing. What begins as a localized threat evolves into a deeper mystery that forces the town to confront forces beyond its understanding.

That escalation—from grounded realism to existential dread—is where Na Hong-jin has historically thrived, and Hope appears to follow that same trajectory, just on a broader canvas.

The film is produced by Na’s Forged Films alongside Plus M Entertainment, with Plus M also handling international sales. MUBI is expected to roll out theatrical plans in its acquired territories in the coming months.

This acquisition also reinforces MUBI’s ongoing expansion into high-profile, prestige genre filmmaking. The company recently entered a multi-year co-financing partnership with IPR.VC to support European film production, and it’s already maintaining a strong presence at Cannes with additional titles in both Competition and Un Certain Regard.

For horror and genre fans, Hope represents something increasingly rare: a filmmaker with a proven voice operating at scale, backed by global talent and major distribution support. If it lands, it could easily become one of the defining genre entries of the year.

And with Cannes as its launchpad, expectations are already exactly where Na Hong-jin tends to operate best—high, uneasy, and impossible to ignore.