Korean director Hwang Dong Hyuk recently admitted that he has no immediate plans to helm a sequel to his highly popular Netflix series, “Squid Game”.
Speaking to Variety about the show’s popularity recently, Hwang said that making the said show was a long and stressful process – something that he would rather not repeat for the time being.
“I am not great at team work,” added the director, who also wrote the said series. “In my earlier days, I’d drink half a bottle of soju to get the creative juices flowing. I can’t do that any more. Writing (Squid Game) was harder than normal for me as it was a series, not a film. It took me six months to write and rewrite the first two episodes. Then I consulted verbally with friends, and picked up clues for improvements through my own pitching and from their responses.”
“But if I were to do it, I would not do it alone. I would consider using a writers’ room and would want multiple experienced directors.”
On the other hand, Hwang dismissed allegations that he copied from other survival genre films like “Battle Royal” and another Netflix entry from Japan, “Alice in Borderland”, stating that he actually conceived the project back in 2008.
“I freely admit that I’ve had great inspiration from Japanese comics and animation over the years. When I started, I was in financial straits myself and spent much time in cafes reading comics including ‘Battle Royale’ and ‘Liar Game.’ I came to wonder how I’d feel if I took part in the games myself. But I found the games too complex, and for my own work focused instead on using kids’ games .. that allow viewers to focus on the characters,” he added.
(Photo Source: Korea Times, Eastern Kicks)