Netflix’s Squid Game is one of the most popular and most-watched shows in this season. However, the production process of the show took a toll on the health of the show creator Hwang Dong-hyuk.
Hwang Dong-hyuk Talked to Guardian
Recently the show creator talked to The Guardian. Hwang said, “It was physically, mentally, and emotionally draining… I kept having new ideas and revising the episodes as we were filming so the amount of work multiplied.” During the same interview, the creator said that the workload kept taking a toll on his health. This went to an extent that he lost six teeth.
However, even before the production process for the show began, Hwang’s journey to make an epic show was filled with hardships. He said that the 2008’s financial crisis affected his family and this was his inspiration to write the show. Hwang recalls, “I was very financially straitened because my mother retired from the company she was working for.” He further added, “We had to take out loans – my mother, myself and my grandmother.” This is how he got the inspiration to create debt-ridden characters who will participate in deathly children’s games for financial compensation.
He also added his love for comic books to create the show. 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.”
What’s Next Squid Game?
Netflix got an outstanding and popular show due to Hwang’s hard work. Currently, the show took over Bridgerton with 142 million households watching the show. The show also boosted the subscriber number to 4.4 million. However, the painful process of production and enormous success gave Netflix a whopping $900 million return on a budget of $21 million. Although Hwang didn’t get a bonus, instead, he was given as per the original contract.
Nothing has been announced about the second season of the show. However, Hwang said there are talks and considerations. He has been an active filmmaker for a decade and thus doesn’t want to tie his entire career to Squid Game. Also, he is in talks with Netflix to release his past three films.
Source: CBR.com
