'Squid Game' creator Hwang Dong-hyuk teases new project 'Killing Old People Club'
Apr 05, 2022
Washington [US], April 5 : After breaking streaming records with 'Squid Game', director Hwang Dong-hyuk has set his next project. 'Squid Game' is getting a second season, and Hwang is scripting that new season, but the filmmaker also has another project in the works.
As per E! News, Dong-hyuk said that he is working on a film that is "more violent" than 'Squid Game'.
Dong-hyuk revealed that he's developing a new movie titled 'Killing Old People Club', inspired by a novel penned by Umberto Eco, the revered Italian intellectual and essayist.
Speaking during a session at MipTV along with his producer Jun Young Jang at February Films, Hwang shared that he has already penned a 25-page treatment about the project which will surely be "another controversial film," he said.
"It will be more violent than 'Squid Game,'" teased Hwang, adding that he might have to hide from old people after the film comes out.
In addition to 'Killing Old People Club', the director is due to return to South Korea, where he will finish writing the second season of 'Squid Game'. Dong-hyuk said that he hopes to release new episodes by late 2024.
He credited Netflix for believing in his vision, sharing that they were the only company to bet on the gritty series--he finished writing it in 2009--which follows impoverished individuals as they compete in childhood games with the goal of taking home a cash prize. Those who fail to win are killed.
"I waited and waited, and I made like three features," he remembered, adding that when he pitched it to the streamer in 2016 they said they "love[d] it."
Dong-hyuk suggested that Netflix was the best home for the series because other companies thought it was "too violent and investors would have been so worried."
The show made history during awards season, becoming the first foreign-language series and first Korean series to earn a nod from the Screen Actors Guild in January. Actors Jung Ho-Yeon and Lee Jung-Jae took home the awards for Best Actress and Actor in a Drama Series.
Following their nominations, Dong-hyuk credited the stars for making the show a success, saying in a statement, "I want to truly thank not only the cast who have been nominated today but also all of the supporting and the near-300 background talent. Squid Game would never have been what it became without the devotion and hard work of every single one of you. You deserve all the glory and credit."
Rolling off the awards season, Hwang said the biggest praise he got for his hit Netflix show came from ace filmmaker Steven Spielberg who told him he wanted to "steal (his) brain."
Hwang said he met Spielberg during the AFI Awards Luncheon last month. "Steven Spielberg told me 'I watched your whole show in three days and now I want to steal your brain!" said Hwang.
He added, "It was like the biggest compliment I ever got in my life because he's my film hero. I grew up watching his movies."
