Source: YOUNGKYU PARK / Courtesy of Netflix
Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk is opening up about what inspired his hit Netflix show and the possibility of season 2.
Dong-hyuk, who created the series with a global audience in mind, said he was going through a tough time financially and had also been reading about indebted people entering into life and death games. The stories he read inspired him to create his own Korean survival game. He told The Hollywood Reporter:
“So back in 2008, I had a script that I had written, which I was running around with trying to get investment, but it didn’t work out and it wasn’t made into a movie. So that actually put me into a really difficult financial situation — I was broke. So I spent a lot of time killing time in comic book cafes, reading. And I read a lot of comic books revolving around surviving death games — manga like Liar Game, Kaiji and Battle Royale. And well, I read some stories about these indebted people entering into these life and death games, and that became really immersive for me because I was struggling financially myself. I was even thinking that I would love to join a game like that, if it existed, to make a bunch of cash and get out of this terrible situation. And then that got me thinking… Well, I’m a director; why don’t I just make a movie with this kind of storyline?”
In the interview, Dong-hyuk goes on to reveal he used the names of his real-life friends for the Squid Game characters, infused himself into the storyline quite a bit, and wanted audiences to think: “What kind of story is this? This is all too surreal.” We think it’s safe to say he definitely achieved his goal, there.
As far as season 2, Dong-hyuk is open to it. He tells the outlet that moving forward he could potentially explore storylines connected to the police officer and The Frontman, the recruiter in the train station, and the rest of Gi-hun’s journey after he decides not to board the plane to America.
Read the full interview here and let us know which storyline you’re most interested in.
