American ‘Squid Game’? Creator says the game is global and universe expansion talks are ‘ongoing’

“Squid Game” director Hwang Dong-hyuk revealed that the concept of his megahit survival game series could expand globally.

In an interview with Deadline, the South Korean director said he wanted to expand the “Squid Game” universe for possible international versions of the titular series.

“That was actually part of my intentions from the outset,” Hwang told Deadline. “I wrote the script in a way to hint that the ‘Squid Game’ was happening in other parts of the world.”

The Netflix series, which alludes to the world’s issues of inequalities in income and living conditions, follows 456 debt-ridden contestants who risk their lives to play in a variety of survival games in hopes of winning the 45.6 billion won (approximately $38.6 million) prize.

The 10-episode South Korean series, which was released in September 2021, dominated Netflix’s streaming charts worldwide and became Netflix’s top series of all time.

The drama also made history as the first non-English language series nominated for an Emmy Award and the first foreign-language TV series to win multiple awards at the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards in February.

“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,” Hwang told Deadline. “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.’”

“Talks regarding this are ongoing,” Hwang added, without specifying whether this refers to a possible “Squid Game” spin-off in another country or a new plot direction for the next season.

However, he did acknowledge Netflix’s upcoming reality show “Squid Game: The Challenge,” which is based on his own series. The reality show will feature contestants who will compete in non-deadly games for $4.56 million, which is reportedly the largest cash prize in reality TV history.

“I heard that they were doing a reality show, even receiving applications right now,” Hwang told Deadline. “So 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 honored to see this happening.”

Featured Image via Netflix

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