Squid Game came to life during creator’s desperation in real-life family crisis Fri 10 November 2023 12:36 Celine Byford
Andrew Mccoy The creator of Squid Game, Hwang Dong-Hyuk, has paid a visit to the grounds of the spin-off Netflix show, Squid Game: The Challenge. His net worth is in the millions yet he claims he is “not rich”. He says he “has enough to put food on the table,” in an interview with The Guardian.
Meet the creator of Squid Game
Netflix‘s Squid Game creator is Hwang Dong-Hyuk. He is a South Korean film director who launched the show after a “low point” growing up when he couldn’t work for a whole year, as told to The Guardian.
The idea came out of his family situation in 2009, after the global financial crisis hit his homeland hard. His mother retired and there was a film he was working on, but the family failed to get finance.
He coped by visiting Seoul’s comic book cafes. “I related to the people in them desperate for money and success. If there was a survival game like this, would I join it to make money for my family?” Hwang said.
He visits the set of Netflix spin-off
Hwang launched the script for Squid Game shortly after experiencing a low point. Now, he is getting busy visiting the UK studio set for the reality spin-off, Squid Game: The Challenge on Netflix.
He revealed that producer Studio Lambert wanted to build the set exactly like the OG show, to every fine detail, like the beds. Cast members lived on those tiny beds for 15 days during filming!
The set features a much bigger swing set and a real aircraft carrier, and it’s so fancy that Dong-Hyuk “wishes he had that one”. Even the color and the shape of the gates are matching.
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Hwang Dong-Hyuk’s net worth
Hwang Dong-Hyuk’s net worth is $5 million, as reported by Distractify. Considering the final contestant in the fictional series won a whopping 4.6 billion won, the creator must be rich, right? He begs to differ.
He told The Guardian that he’s “not that rich” but “has enough to put food on the table”. Dong-Hyuk added: “It’s not like Netflix is paying me a bonus. Netflix paid me according to the original contract.”
According to leaked documents, the nine-episode run cost £15.5 million ($18.8M) to produce, which works out at £1.75m per installment. It is thought to be worth £650 million to the streaming service.
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WATCH SQUID GAME: THE CHALLENGE ON NETFLIX FROM NOVEMBER 22
