Michael Fassbender’s Gritty New Sci-Fi Action Epic Is Officially Returning In 1 Month

Published Nov 12, 2026, 9:56 AM EST Brennan Klein (he/him) is a senior news writer at Screen Rant, host of the Attack of the Queerwolf podcast, and contributor at Alternate Ending and Horror Press. He has been writing and podcasting about pop culture (especially horror movies) for over a decade at platforms including Blumhouse, Fangoria, Dread Central, The Backlot, and Arrow in the Head. Hope springs eternal. The 2026 sci-fi movie, which is set to return soon, is the first directorial feature from South Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin since his well-regarded 2016 horror movie The Wailing. The movie, which takes place in the isolated South Korean town of Hope Harbor and follows the human population fighting back against an alien invasion, features a star-studded ensemble cast that includes Hwang Jung-min (The Wailing), Jung Ho-yeon (Squid Game), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), and two-time nominee Michael Fassbender (X-Men: Days of Future Past). Hope reviews have been glowing, earning it a Certified Fresh 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. Per Blu-ray.com, Hope is officially set to debut on Blu-ray via Decal Releasing on December 22. Amazon's official listing also reflects this date, putting the movie at an expected price point of $37.98. This release date sees the movie arriving on Blu-ray just seven months after its world premiere at the 79th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 17 and three months after its U.S. premiere on September 9. Decal is the distribution company behind the physical media releases of many major recent independent movies and Oscar contenders, including Anatomy of a Fall, How to Blow Up a Pipeline, I, Tonya, Immaculate, It Was Just an Accident, Spencer, Triangle of Sadness, Longlegs, and the Best Picture winner Anora. They often handle the physical media for movies that were picked up for U.S. distribution by NEON, the company that handled Hope's domestic theatrical run. In the U.S., NEON distributed both Anora and the 2019 Best Picture winner Parasite. This physical media release could ultimately place Hope on sturdier ground, offering it a new avenue through which it can turn a profit. Ultimately, its break-even point is entirely unknown. However, it is reportedly the most expensive Korean production of all time. Its initial reported budget of $46 million, which Na Hong-jin said was inaccurate and too high (per NAVER Entertainment), could have placed its break-even point as high as $115 million. While it is unclear how much lower than $46 million its budget truly is, the movie used a great deal of CGI effects to bring its aliens to life and features performances from an Oscar winner (Vikander won Best Supporting Actress in 2016 for The Danish Girl) and an Oscar nominee, so it probably did cost a somewhat substantial amount. Considering the fact that it has only earned $52.6 million worldwide so far, it is entirely possible that it is operating at a deficit and still needs to earn more aftermarket revenue in order to end up in the black. If the physical media release works alongside its video on demand release to push the movie over the edge, it is possible that a Hope sequel could come to fruition. Na Hong-jin has already spoken about the possibility of the film becoming a franchise, and while he told NAVER (roughly translated from Korean) that "I felt that this work alone should be the conclusion," he also teased that they had enough storyboards for two volumes and that the story does continue after the ending of the movie, leaving the option open for another team to potentially pick up those threads. Release Date September 9, 2026 Runtime 157 minutes Director Na Hong-jin Cast Hwang Jung-min Go Bum-seok Writers Na Hong-jin Producers Eugene Kim, Saemi Kim, Saerom Kim, Hong Jeong-in