game Squid game can be deadly, and they also make almost dangerous sounds – at least for your teeth.
The creator of the hit South Korean Netflix series, Hwang Dong-hyuk, laughed when he told the BBC that he lost “eight or nine” teeth due to the pressure of producing the first season. It was previously reported that he had lost six teeth.
It might make you wonder why he came back to make more. Hwang revealed from the set of Season 2 that he loves desperate players Squid game He competed in literal life-or-death competitions adapted from children’s games to win huge cash prizes, and money was the motivating factor that brought him back for the second round.
Hwang often talked about how the license fees Netflix paid for his show, which he had been trying to make for more than a decade before he got the green light, deprived him of huge back-end revenue. The Squid Game It was produced when it unexpectedly exploded at the top and became the biggest streaming success of 2021.
He told the BBC: “Even though the first series was a huge global success, to be honest, I didn’t make much,” he told the BBC. “So doing the second series would help me make up for the success of the first series as well. And I didn’t complete the whole story.
Compensation has been a major topic of discussion in Korea, which has become one of Netflix’s main international priorities thanks to the creative surge coming from the country. Next to Squid GameKorea was born glory and Lawyer Extraordinaire Wu Among other things, the broadcaster pledged to invest $2.5 billion in Korean content in April 2023, to be spent over five years.
However, lawmakers are concerned about the profit-sharing model used by Netflix and how its localized dominance has led to higher costs. In an interview with Deadline last year, Don Kang, vice president of Korea’s content division, said: “We work hard to reward our content creators fairly and at the highest competitive level possible. We pay upfront amounts that reflect what can be calculated as residuals, which in most cases results in compensation at a higher level than if residuals were paid. He also claimed that residual systems were an industry-wide issue and should be treated as such.
Netflix made a profit of 12.1 billion won ($8 million) last year, and was the only streaming company operating in the black, according to filings earlier this year. Revenue jumped 6.5% to 823.3 billion won.
Squid GameThe second season returns on December 26 around the world. It will star Lee Jung-jae, who will reprise his role as protagonist Gi-hun. Set three years after Gi-hun won the first game, he returns to play again and destroys it after giving up his dream of traveling to the United States. The BBC reported that the dormitory where the contestants sleep at night is divided into two sections in the second season, with players being allowed to leave the game if the majority decides.
The BBC also revealed that there will be more backstory for the evil front man, who oversees the game. Actor Lee Byung-hoon, who plays the character, said: “People will see more of the front man’s past, his story, and his emotions.” “I don’t think this will make viewers feel warm towards him, but it might help them better understand his choices.”
Hwang joked that the stress of doing the second round means his teeth are starting to hurt again: “I haven’t seen my dentist yet, but I’ll probably have to have a few more extractions very soon.”
We revealed last month that David Fincher is developing an English language Squid game series, which will expand the universe that also includes the unscripted song squid game: Challenge.