The biggest series launch in Netflix’s history depicts a world where desperate people are recruited to take part in a series of deadly children’s games in pursuit of a cash prize. These ‘Squid Games’ are carried out annually, the show later reveals, for the benefit of wealthy VIPs and benefactors, and one small line hints that Korea might not be the only country to give Red Light Green Light a more murderous spin.
“That was actually part of my intentions from the outset. I wrote the script in a way to hint that the Squid Game was happening in other parts of the world,” Hwang told Deadline.
“As you can see from the conversations that the VIPs are having, they say the Korean game this year is spectacular, which means that there are other games as well. I thought that if the show did well, I wanted to expand the universe further, so that other countries could have their own version of the Squid Game.”
Squid Game (Netflix)
The director neglected to say whether the series’ international scope would be explored in the confirmed season two of the show, or whether some regionalised spin-offs might be on the cards.
The first series of Squid Game shot to the top of Netflix’s most-watched list in September last year, and since then has inspired Halloween costumes, a reality TV series and a real-life interactive multiplayer game, where punters will use motion-sensing and touch screen technology to play through the series’ most popular play-dates.
During the interview, Hwang took time to address the series’ format-spanning success. “As a creator who makes original series, the fact that my story is going global and that people are making different interpretations of it, it’s very exciting and I’m honoured to see this happening.”
