Director Na Hong-jin's latest film Hope is set for a North American release, building momentum after its invitation to the Cannes competition.

The distributor Plus M announced on April 13 that it has signed a North American distribution partnership with NEON. The company is known for bringing multiple Palme d'Or and Academy Award-winning films to North America, including Parasite.

Hope was recently officially invited to compete at the Cannes Film Festival. It will go head-to-head with works by globally renowned directors such as Hirokazu Kore-eda and Asghar Farhadi.

This marks the first time in about four years that a Korean film has entered the Cannes competition lineup, following Park Chan-wook's Decision to Leave, which won Best Director in 2022.

It also signals Na Hong-jin's long-awaited return to Cannes. He previously attended the festival in 2016 with The Wailing, which was screened out of competition.

Hope tells the story of a local port office chief stationed near the Demilitarized Zone who begins investigating reports of a tiger sighting from local youths, leading to a series of mysterious events.

The film will premiere globally at Cannes next month before hitting theaters this summer.