Ready for Squid Game Season 2? Creator says its coming
The creator of the wildly popular South Korean hit television show "Squid Game" is planning a second season.
The nine-part Netflix global sensation has been watched by more than 110 million people internationally and became the company's most-watched series launch in its history since it premiered in September.
"We are in the talks for Season 2," writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk said Monday, speaking at a red carpet event in Los Angeles.
"It's all in my head. I have the basic story line, the broad plan, so we're in the brainstorming stages," he added. "I'm going to go ahead and say there will be a second season, but as for when, I cannot tell you now."
Netflix has not formally announced a second season of the show and did not respond to The Washington Post's requests for comment.
The dystopian megahit has gripped viewers around the world with its gruesome tale of economic despair and deadly childhood-inspired games. It sees debt-burdened contestants take part in schoolyard games to win a huge cash prize, with the twist that if they lose they pay with their life.
The runaway success of the show, an idea that took about 10 years to conceive, has sparked memes and fan accounts as well as "Squid" cryptocurrency, with dubious success.
It has elicited a response from secretive North Korea's propaganda machine while children in schoolyards in the United States, Britain and elsewhere have been encouraged not to watch the ultraviolent show or re-enact scenes at recess.
However, the show has also been a vehicle to share aspects of South Korean life and culture with international viewers and had tapped into themes such as inequality, abuse of power, economic anxieties and the struggles of the perennial underdog, which have resonated with a global audience. The director has said the production's relatability has been a key factor to its success.
Attending a special screening of the show in Hollywood, creator and director Hwang said the global attention garnered meant "I almost feel like you leave us no choice," in making a second installment. "There's been so much pressure, so much demand and so much love for a second season," he added.
Stars of the show were also at the red carpet event and spoke of their surprise at being recognized by fans in the United States and of their desire to be asked to make movies in Hollywood.
