Squid Game first hit the Netflix homepage on September 17th. A few weeks later, it seemed that the entire world had caught on, with the words “Squid Game” trending for weeks on end, across social media platforms. For a while, it seemed as though everyone and their mom's were talking about the show.
Actress HoYeon Jung, who starred in the show as North Korean defector Kang Sae-byeok, gained over 13 million followers almost overnight. Halloween weekend saw countless Squid Game costumes. Brands started kicking off Squid Game-inspired marketing campaigns. Soulja Boy released a song entitled "Squid Game" last month. Even Lil Baby tried his hand at the Dalgona game (one of the games featured in the show, wherein players carve out shapes from a honeycomb cookie without cracking them).
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Such success is a triumph for Squid Game director and creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, who spent over a decade pitching the show to studios, only to be met with countless rejections. He infamously noted that at one point, he had to stop writing the script to sell his laptop and make ends meet. In an on-camera video interview released earlier today, Hwang, standing alongside actor Lee Jung-jae, who played Seong Gi-hun, the show’s protagonist, officially confirmed the production of a Squid Game Season 2.
“There’s been so much pressure, so much demand, so much love for a second season. I almost feel like you leave us no choice!” Hwang said in the interview. “There will indeed be a second season. It’s in my head right now.”
“I’m in the planning process currently, but I do think it’s too early to say when and how it’s going to happen,” Hwang continued. “So I promise you this: Gi-hun will come back. He’ll do something for the world.”
Check out the interview clip below.
