‘Squid Game’ creator on the series’ global success and Netflix as a platform

The Business

KCRW

Tv & Film

4.6 • 676 Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“Squid Game” creator Hwang Dong-hyuk had never written a TV series before, but after a decade conceptualizing it, he created an unprecedented global sensation. “Squid Game” is about a dystopian survival competition where hundreds of cash-strapped players aim for a multi-million dollar cash prize. The show has become No. 1 in 90 countries and the most-watched Netflix program of all time. The USC-trained filmmaker had big ambitions for the project, but was blown away by how many people worldwide are fans. “I wanted to make a global TV show. My goal was hitting number one in the U.S. Netflix rank. But I never expected this kind of big success,” he says. When Hwang proposed “Squid Game,” it was considered too weird and too violent. So while he searched for investors for that project, he directed three acclaimed films: “The Crucible,” “Miss Granny,” and “The Fortress.” In 2018, Netflix took a closer look, “got hooked,” and greenlit the show. The streaming service’s global platform gave the show visibility and a massive audience. With all the achievements, Hwang has agreed to work on season two, which could be out by the end of 2023 or 2024. And the streaming service may be spawning a “Squid Game” universe.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From KCRW, I'm Kim Masters, and this is The Business.
0:04.9	Squid Game creator Wang Dangiak had made four feature films, but had never written a TV
0:10.1	series before he set the dark survival drama up at Netflix.
0:14.6	He ended up creating the number one show in 90 countries and the most watched Netflix
0:19.2	program of all time. Now he's on the hook to do it again.
0:23.4	Never thought like I was going to make season two, maybe like a one or two percent of chance.
0:29.1	This big success made me, forced me to do season two right now.
0:34.6	Wong explains how a script that sat on a shelf for almost a decade found a home at Netflix,
0:39.7	and he talks about definitely getting paid for season two. But first we banter. Stick around. It's
0:45.6	the business from KCRW. I am joined by my colleague in banter, Matt Bellany. Hello, Matt.
0:52.5	Hi there. We are able to talk about a movie. Normally, we talk about movies in the old schedule
0:57.0	where the podcast was on Fridays and the show aired on Mondays. We kind of had to fudge around
1:01.8	how a movie did because we knew many people would know how the movie did by the time they
1:05.6	heard the show. But now we're on this new time, and people don't know, and we can just prognosticate away, and we're
1:11.8	going to do that with Top Gun Maverick, which is a movie that has been sitting for two years.
1:17.7	This movie was done and dusted.
1:19.9	It was ready to go, and even the parties were planned, and this crazy global tour that
1:25.8	Cruz has been on, you know, going to Cannes and the
1:28.6	Queen's Jubilee and one thing and another. All of this was planned and ready to go. And now
1:34.3	Paramount, having fired the regime Jim Geneobleauplos and the people who actually did that
1:39.7	planning and greenlighted this version of the movie, they are going to dine out on whatever
1:44.1	it does.
	...

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