Yoo Byung Jae’s Hope campaign finally wakes Na Hong-jin

Entertainer Yoo Byung Jae's playful pursuit of director Na Hong-jin regarding the film 'Hope' is drawing significant attention.

“Are you sleeping?” Director Na Hong-jin responds to Yoo Byung Jae's SNS pursuit

Broadcaster Yoo Byung Jae has been engaging in witty actions to grab the attention of director Na Hong-jin regarding the film 'Hope'.

On the 27th, Yoo Byung Jae continued his clever attempts via his Instagram Stories, posting the phrase "'Hope' is fun" against a black background. This was the exact same content posted on the same day by Jung Kook, a member of the group BTS. When director Na regramed Jung Kook's positive review on his own account, sparking buzz, Yoo Byung Jae followed suit by mimicking Jung Kook's post to induce a reaction from director Na.

On the following day, the 28th, Yoo Byung Jae showed he was waiting for a response from director Na by leaving the text "Are you sleeping?" on his Instagram Story. In response, after checking Yoo Byung Jae's story, director Na Hong-jin responded playfully, saying, "I was trying to sleep... but people keep waking me up because of you, Mr. Byung Jae," adding, "What is your business?"

'5th Viewing': Yoo Byung Jae analyzes the charms of 'Hope'

Yoo Byung Jae also stepped forward to provide a full-scale interpretation of the film 'Hope' through his YouTube channel. In the video released on the 27th, he appeared wearing an outfit reminiscent of the character Ko Seong-gi, played by Zo In-sung in the film.

In the video, Yoo Byung Jae revealed, "I have watched 'Hope' a total of 5 times." He explained his viewing experiences, including theater visits, ticket transfers, and conversations shared with YouTuber Kim Dan-gun. Yoo Byung Jae dubbed the film the "super chameleon" of the film industry, mentioning foreshadowing used in director Na's previous works, the forest fire-related time loop hypothesis, and the twelve zodiac theory.

Meanwhile, YouTuber Kim Dan-gun has released a total of five 'Delusion Meeting' content pieces since the release, offering various interpretations, and actress Jung Ho-yeon also directly mentioned the content.

Director Na Hong-jin's new film 'Hope' surpasses 3 million viewers in 11 days

'Hope', the feature film presented by director Na Hong-jin for the first time in 10 years since 'The Wailing' (2016), is an SF film dealing with the events experienced by a branch office manager in a DMZ village after hearing news of a tiger's appearance. Having entered the competition section of the 79th Cannes International Film Festival, the work features domestic and international actors including Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and Jung Ho-yeon, as well as Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, Alicia Vikander, and Michael Fassbender.

Released on the 15th, 'Hope' surpassed 3 million viewers just 11 days after its release. This is the fastest pace among Korean films released this year and marks the fourth film released this year to surpass 3 million viewers. The cumulative audience count has recently exceeded 3.5 million.