Squid Game may have just hit Netflix a month ago, but in a recent interview with Indie Wire, writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk shared that he first came up with the idea for the show back in 2008.
“At the time, there was the Lehman Brothers crisis; the Korean economy was badly affected and I was also economically struggling,” the 50-year-old recalled.
Initially, Dong-hyuk had dreams of making a Squid Game movie, but both studios and actors resisted the idea when he pitched it to them, so he tucked the idea into the back of his mind.
“Over the past 10 years, there were a lot of issues: There was the cryptocurrency boom, where people around the world, especially young people in Korea, would go all-in and invest all their money into cryptocurrencies,” the South Korean visionary said, via translator.
“And there was the rise of IT giants like Facebook, Google, and in Korea, there’s Naver, and they are just restructuring our lives. It’s innovative but these IT giants also got very rich.”
Dong-hyuk then went on to mention the very important influence that a certain U.S. President had on the creation of Squid Game.
“And then Donald Trump became the president of the United States … After all these issues happened, I thought it was about time that this show goes out into the world,” he told Indie Wire.
During the interview, the director also compared Trump to the VIP characters in his show, saying, “It’s almost like he’s running a game show, not a country, like giving people horror.”
If you have yet to binge watch the 9-episode series, the VIP’s are members of the ultra-wealthy, who sponsor the game and wear animal masks to keep their anonymity while they watch competitors fight for their lives.
Earlier this month, we also reported that there’s great potential for Dong-hyuk to team up with Netflix once again for a second season of Squid Game.
What do you think that Donald Trump will have to say about his influence on the Netflix original series? Let us know in the comments.
[Via]