The show has proved a hit with audiences and critics alike.
Since it launched in mid-September, Squid Game has become one of the success stories of the year.
It currently sits at number one in the list of most-watched titles on Netflix, globally, and has a 100% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
The dystopian series follows a group of 456 people – all of whom are heavily in debt and in need of a quick fix – who are enlisted into a mysterious survival competition that invites them to risk their lives for a chance at winning a whopping ₩45.6 billion payday, clearing their slates.
It’s clearly stuck a chord with audiences. Now, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has explained how the series got its unusual name.
“Squid Game is a game I used to play as a child in the schoolyard or the streets of the neighbourhood,” he told the Radio Times. “This is a story about people who used to play this game as children and return to play it as adults.
“It was one of the most physical and it was also one of my favourite games. I felt that this game could be the most symbolic children’s game that could represent the kind of society we live in today.”
Hwang also revealed that he had begun working on the project way back in 2008.
“I was reading a lot of comic books, and I finished the script in 2009,” he explained.
“At the time, it seemed very unfamiliar and violent. There were people who thought it was a little too complex and not commercial. I wasn’t able to get enough investment and casting was difficult.
“I dabbled in it for about a year, but I had to put it to sleep then.”
A decade later and Netflix picked up the idea – and it’s a decision they won’t be regretting.
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