Korea's most expensive movie ever opens Wednesday. It can't afford to flop

Two days ahead of its opening, "Hope" is already the only story at the local box office.

As of Monday morning, Na Hong-jin's Cannes-premiered alien epic accounted for 62.1 percent of all advance tickets sold nationwide, racking up nearly 390,000 bookings, according to the Korean Film Council's tracking service.

The film shot to No.

1 faster than any release this year and hasn't budged since; its share now runs nearly four times that of the runner-up, "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," which opens July ...