#Squid game writer capitalism series#

Why did Hwang create a horrifyingly brutal contest that holds human life so cheap? “Because the show is motivated by a simple idea,” he says. Those caught out are mown down with machine-gun fire. In the first game in the show, all 456 contestants can only move when the face of a sinister mechanised doll is turned away from them. “I used to be good at fighting my way to the squid’s head,” Hwang says. He drew on a version of tag he played as a boy called squid game, named after the various squid-bodypart shapes that were drawn on to whatever field it was played on. If there was a survival game like these in reality, I wondered, would I join it to make money for my family? I realised that, since I was a film-maker, I could put my own touch to these kinds of stories so I started on the script.” I related to the people in them, who were desperate for money and success. “I read Battle Royal and Liar Game and other survival game comics. Hwang sought relief in Seoul’s comic book cafes. Hwang Dong-hyuk: ‘I tried to watch Bridgerton but gave up in the middle of episode one.’ Photograph: Ji Sang Chung/Netflix

#Squid game writer capitalism series#

The series – which Netflix estimates has been watched by 142m households and boosted its subscriber figures by 4.4m – is thought to be worth £650m to the streaming service. Its return on that has been extraordinary. According to leaked documents, the nine-episode run cost £15.5m to produce, which works out at £1.75m per instalment. Squid Game earlier this month overtook Bridgerton as the most successful Netflix show ever. After all, the 50-year-old South Korean film-maker has made hundreds of millions for his paymasters. Netflix paid me according to the original contract.” That seems unfair. And it’s not like Netflix is paying me a bonus. Perhaps Hwang is now as rich as the contestant who wins the top prize? “I’m not that rich,” he says. Win and they go home with 4.6bn won (£28m).

In the dystopian survival drama, a mysterious organisation challenges 456 players from all walks of life – each deeply in debt – to play a series of children’s games. I’ve just asked the creator of Squid Game, Netflix’s smash hit show, if its astonishing success has made him rich. Hwang Dong-hyuk is laughing at me from his office in Seoul.