Na Hong Jin’s Hope has officially crossed its break-even point.
The film has held the No. 1 spot at the Korean box office for two consecutive weeks and is now closing in on 3.5 million moviegoers, investor Episode Company said July 27.
According to KOBIS, Hope had drawn 3,415,709 moviegoers and grossed 37.26 billion won (approximately $25 million) as of July 26.
The film drew attention for carrying the largest production budget in Korean cinema history, though strong overseas presales significantly lowered the number of domestic admissions needed to break even.
After passing 3 million admissions over the weekend, Hope is now on its way toward the 4 million mark.
The film has also continued to build momentum internationally. Na Hong Jin was recently honored at the 25th New York Asian Film Festival, which also hosted a special retrospective of his work.
Back home, ongoing discussion and debate surrounding the film have helped keep audiences coming to theaters.
With Hope now in profitable territory, attention is turning to how far its box office run can go.
UPDATE:
A representative from Plus M Entertainment told The Daily Sports, “We have confirmed that Episode Company shared and distributed the press release regarding this matter, but it was not shared with the distributor in advance.”
Plus M Entertainment has never officially disclosed the film’s break-even point, nor has it revealed the exact production cost. Since the production budget is reportedly one of the largest in Korean film history, it remains uncertain whether Hope will surpass its break-even point. In addition, the break-even point has been changing due to the film’s overseas sales performance, which is why the company is being particularly cautious about releasing related figures.
Episode Company did not respond to multiple requests for confirmation from The Daily Sports. About 90 minutes after distributing the press release, the company corrected the title from “Episode Company, ‘Hope’ Surpasses Break-Even Point” to “Episode Company, ‘Hope’ Passes the Midpoint Toward Its Break-Even Point” and redistributed the press release.
Ultimately, the announcement claiming that Hope had surpassed its break-even point is expected to be remembered as an embarrassing incident caused by the publicly traded company, Episode Company, ahead of the stock market opening.
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