'Hope' opens strong in Korea, selling over 330,000 tickets

Na Hong-jin's "Hope" attracted more than 330,000 audience members on the first day of its release in Korea, box-office data showed Thursday, reflecting the buzz surrounding the highly anticipated film.

The Korean sci-fi epic debuted at No.

1 at the box office, drawing 333,918 moviegoers on Wednesday, according to data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).

It accounted for 81.3 percent of total box-office sales.

"Hope," which competed at this year's prestigious Cannes Film Festival, follows police officers and villagers in the remote coastal town of Hopo as they become embroiled in a series of spiraling events after encountering powerful yet mysterious extraterrestrial beings.

Marking Na's return a decade after "The Wailing" (2016), it features a star-studded cast, including Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung and Jung Ho-yeon, as well as Hollywood actors Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander.

The film was pre-sold to around 200 territories worldwide, setting a record for a Korean film.

At home, the sci-fi epic accounted for 63.1 percent of all advance ticket sales as of 8:55 a.m.

Thursday, with ...