Squid game is a Japanese series. It is also known as the most-watched series ever. Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk, however, has said he began writing his own story long before the 2014 release. Hwang explains how he first developed the idea for the hit Netflix series:
“After I filmed my debut work in 2008, I went to a lot of manga and manhwa book stores. I saw a lot of survival stories, so I thought it would be interesting if this genre was recreated in a Korean way. I completed the script back in 2009, but I was told that it won’t be successful since the story is cruel and the genre was unfamiliar to the public at the time. I couldn’t get any investment or casting since the project was difficult to understand. So I stopped preparing it.”Though the script was finished in 2009, the series reportedly didn’t begin filming until September 2020. And production was… big. The team filmed on an actual set, using many practical effects, including the giant doll in the first episode. They also cast 456 actors to play the incoming class of contestants.
When season 2 happens, we can expect even bigger productions—though, hopefully, this time with a faster pipeline. If filming can begin later this year or early 2022, we may be able to get a late fall 2022 release.
