- Director Hwang Dong-hyuk returns for Squid Game season 2
- Says cash was main motivator for directing new episodes
- Reveals stress caused him to lose teeth during season one
Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk says that cash was the main motivator for returning for Netflix’s upcoming second season.
The South Korean filmmaker recently told the BBC that he didn’t make that much money for Squid Game season one. Despite it becoming one of the platform’s most-watched shows ever, Dong-hyuk says returning will help “compensate” for the first season.
“Even though the first series was such a huge global success, honestly I didn’t make much,” Dong-Hyuk told the outlet in November 2024. “So doing the second series will help compensate me for the success of the first one too.”
Read more: Every returning character in Squid Game season 2
He had previously confirmed that he wasn’t offered a bonus and was instead paid for his directorial services up-front. Netflix has since countered, assuring that it pays its creators competitively and offers “solid compensation, regardless of the success or failure of their shows.”
The filmmaker was quick to add that creativity also entered into his decision-making process, adding that he “didn’t fully finish the story.”
Losing teeth
Elsewhere in the same chat, Dong-hyuk confirmed that making Squid Game’s first season was so stressful he lost a few teeth during the show’s production.
Rumours of this had originally circulated following a 2022 interview the director gave to Variety during which he claimed that he lost six teeth while making the show’s debut series.
However, during Dong-hyuk’s chat with the BBC, he confirmed that it was more like “eight or nine.”
This physical toll almost convinced him to sit Squid Game season 2 out before cash and creativity convinced him otherwise. That said, the stress of topping his Emmy-winning first outing is still haunting him.
“The stress I feel now is much greater,” he added. However, the filmmaker sees many parallels between his show and the fractured world audiences currently find themselves in.
“New lines are being drawn. We’re in an era of us vs them. Who’s right and who’s wrong?” asked Dong-hyuk.
When is Squid Game season 2 released?
Squid Game season 2 is released worldwide on 24 December 2024 and will see the return of Lee Jung-jae’s Seong Gi-hun.
According to early details, new episodes will see him return to the Squid Game with revenge on his mind, despite managing to emerge as the game’s sole winner during season one.
The show will also feature the return of Lee Byung-hun as the Squid Game’s deadly operator The Front Man.
Wi Ha-Joon also returns as a police officer lured into the game while investigating his missing brother, with Gong Yoo back as the suited Salesman who lures players into the game.
