Squid Game came from nowhere to become a worldwide phenomenon this month after dropping without any kind of fanfare on Netflix. The Korean series sees a group of down-on-their-luck, regular people being invited to take part in a game that offers a huge cash prize to its winner, but delivers a brutal exit strategy for those who fail to complete the seemingly simple games presented to the participants. Of course, now that the series has made a reported $900 million, the question that follows in the wake of that news is when will there be a second season? When faced with this very question, the show’s creator Hwang Dong-hyuk told British newspaper The Guardian, that it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that discussions of a follow up were being discussed.
“Of course there is talk,” Hwang said. “That’s inevitable because it’s been such a success. I am considering it. I have a very high-level picture in my mind, but I’m not going to work on it straight away. There’s a film I really want to make. I’m thinking about which to do first. I’m going to talk to Netflix.”
There are very few filmmakers who are willing to outright entertain the idea of doing something that they are interested in before a “sure-fire money-spinner” that a second season of Squid Game would present, and Hwang should be commended for not instantly dropping everything to chase the money. Speaking of money, Hwang’s creation may be raking in millions for Netflix, but that doesn’t mean he has seen too much of it yet. “I’m not that rich,” he admits. “But I do have enough. I have enough to put food on the table. And it’s not like Netflix is paying me a bonus. Netflix paid me according to the original contract.” He added with a laugh, “It’s possible that I have to do season two to become as rich as Squid Game‘s winner.”
Hwang originally created Squid Game from his own family situation during the financial crisis of 2009, which hit the entire world hard. “I was very financially straitened because my mother retired from the company she was working for. There was a film I was working on but we failed to get finance. So I couldn’t work for about a year. We had to take out loans – my mother, myself and my grandmother,” he said. “I read Battle Royal and Liar Game and other survival game comics. I related to the people in them, who were desperate for money and success. That was a low point in my life. If there was a survival game like these in reality, I wondered, would I join it to make money for my family? I realised that, since I was a film-maker, I could put my own touch to these kinds of stories so I started on the script.”
Of course, there have been a lot of discussions about the show’s take on capitalism, but the writer simply had a point to make, and to him, it was a very simple thing. “It’s not profound! It’s very simple! I do believe that the overall global economic order is unequal and that around 90% of the people believe that it’s unfair. During the pandemic, poorer countries can’t get their people vaccinated. They’re contracting viruses on the streets and even dying. So I did try to convey a message about modern capitalism. As I said, it’s not profound.”
Hwang certainly doesn’t seem to be massively swayed by the offers of money to create a second season of the show immediately, as he doesn’t want to simply be known as “the squid guy”, and has actively approached Netflix about having his previous movies added to the streaming service so people can get a taste of his other work. It is safe to say that when it comes to Squid Game‘s future, Hwang is definitely the one calling the shots. This story is adapted from an interview with The Guardian.
Source: movieweb.com