Squid Game director in dilemma over reviving dead characters for 2nd season
SEOUL - The director of Netflix’s huge hit series Squid Game said on Friday that he was in a dilemma over whether and how to revive dead characters as he prepared for a second season after making history at the Emmys last week.
Squid Game became Netflix’s most-watched series after its release last September, creating countless online memes and Halloween costumes and kickstarting sales of green tracksuits.
The nine-episode survival drama offers a fable of deeply unequal capitalist society, with cash-strapped contestants playing childhood games for a chance of life-changing sums of money.
Director-writer Hwang Dong-hyuk won an Emmy for outstanding directing for a drama series, while lead actor Lee Jung-jae was named best actor in drama. Both were the first Asians to win those awards and the first from a non-English series.
Hwang, 51, said he had already devised games to be played in the second season and was writing a script, but was in a dilemma over dead characters such as Ji-young and Sae-byeok.
The new season will be shot next year and released in 2024.
“I want to revive Ji-young, but her best friend Sae-byeok also died, so I’m thinking what to do,” he told a joint news conference in Seoul with the drama’s crew and cast.
“So many characters died, especially beloved ones. I’m sorry I killed them so easily; I didn’t know this was coming.”
The Emmy’s directing honour epitomised Hwang’s journey with the series, but he was disappointed at missing the award for best drama series, which went to HBO’s Succession.
“Of course what I wanted the most was best drama series. Because above all else, it comes at the end of the ceremony where everyone in the team goes onto the stage, so I was hoping for such a moment,” he said.
“When I heard an ‘S’ sound when they announced it, I thought it was ‘Squid’ but then it turned out to be ‘Succession’ so I remember being a little disappointed,” he added with a wicked smile. - REUTERS
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