Latest news with #SquidGame
Asharq Al-Awsat
35 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Fans Celebrate ‘Squid Game' Finale with Seoul Parade
Thousands of fans gathered in Seoul on Saturday to celebrate the final "Squid Game" season, ending a global Netflix hit that is seen as a symbol of South Korea's cultural clout. The third and final season was released Friday, concluding the series that sees desperate people compete in deadly versions of traditional children's games for a massive cash prize. Director Hwang Dong-hyuk said he had "poured everything" into the series, which launched nearly four years ago. "So while it's sentimental to see it end," he said, "there's also a sense of relief". Fans gathered near Seoul's Gyeongbokgung Palace, led by marchers dressed in the bright pink uniforms worn by the show's mysterious masked agents. They were followed by others carrying oversize toys from one of the games featured in the series, along with the show's flag. Park Sang-gyu, a fan who stayed up all night watching the final season, said the dystopian drama was "ultimately a story about people". "As you watch, you realize it's not just about the games -- it reflects many aspects of real life." The walls of the Seoul Metropolitan Library were lit up with key scenes, including Young-hee -- the giant motion-sensing animatronic doll featured in one of its brutal games. Lee Byung-hun, who played the masked Front Man overseeing the competition, said the show had become "something of a cultural phenomenon". "One that has drawn one of the boldest lines in the history of Korean content," he said. The first two seasons of the series are among Netflix's most-watched shows, and in 2022, Hwang and the show's leading actor, Lee Jung-jae, became the first Asian men to win Emmy Awards. The final season follows its hero Gi-hun, played by Lee, as he returns to the ultra-violent games to dismantle them from within after surviving the first round. Along with filmmaker Bong Joon-ho's Oscar-winning 2019 thriller "Parasite" and K-pop sensation BTS, "Squid Game" is considered one of the most powerful examples of South Korea's rise as a global cultural force.
ABC News
35 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
After three seasons of Squid Game, what have we learnt?
For more than a decade, South Korean director Hwang Dong-hyuk couldn't convince a studio to fund his film project about a brutal game show that preyed on society's most vulnerable. It wasn't until the late 2010s, after Hwang became a household name in South Korea, that Netflix took notice. They convinced the director to elongate his proposal, and he created an eight-episode miniseries that would become Squid Game. When he was writing Squid Game, he had one goal: to make the show rank "No 1 on the Netflix US chart for at least a day". The success of the show's first outing resulted in a second season, released while South Korea was in the middle of political unrest. Now, the third and final season has arrived. While the international interest in capitalism-critical dramas from Korea might seem to have come from nowhere, appetite has been steadily growing in the country for decades. To understand its rise, you must first understand the climate in which it has flourished, says Dr Sung-Ae Lee, an expert in Korean popular culture at Macquarie University. Over its short history, South Korea has experienced radical social change at an incredibly fast pace, Dr Lee says. The country went from military dictatorships of the mid-20th century to "capitalist industrialisation" to the "fragile and conservative version of democratisation" in the 1990s. "However, the country still manifests distinctly traditional characteristics of a feudal society. Power and wealth are concentrated in the hands of 1 per cent of the people, and social mobility is almost impossible," Dr Lee told ABC Entertainment. "Censorship had eased by the turn of the century but South Korean media are still liable to censor 'political' material. So criticism of capitalism really only dates from the 21st century." Soon after the turn of the millennium, anti-capitalist themes began popping up in South Korean films — such as Bong Joon Ho's The Host (2007), which "uses the monster genre to comment on the negative effects on the lower classes of South Korea of foreign economic manipulation, environmental pollution and military intervention". Bong's interest in capitalism-critical creations would lead him all the way to the Academy Awards, where his 2019 film, Parasite — a story about a lower-class family infiltrating a rich family — became the first non-English-language film to win Best Picture. Dr Lee says the social anxiety prevalent in modern South Korean cinema has spoken to disgruntled attitudes towards capitalism worldwide. "Squid Game articulates anxiety about neoliberal capitalism: precarious employment and disposable workers (they kill them!); huge income inequality; the callousness of the rich; and suggests that aspirations to wellbeing are futile," she says. "Unlike most TV dramas, it eschews a 'happy ending'." Squid Game is also not the first Hwang original to have a tangible impact outside of the screen. His 2011 film, Silenced, tackled a real sexual-assault scandal at Gwangju Inhwa School for the Deaf in the early 2000s. "The film attracted over 3 million viewers nationwide within two weeks of its release and became a box office sensation," Dr Lee says. "As a result of the events depicted in this film, the case was reopened and stronger legislation was established." Wi Ha-joon — who has played police officer Hwang Jun-ho since the show's inception — says he's seen the tangible impact Squid Game has had on the Korean film and TV industry. "[Squid Game] led to a lot of attention coming from abroad and that facilitated a lot of investment," he told ABC Entertainment through an interpreter. "This has made the production conditions for these Korean content better and also better in quality." And, for better or for worse, the Squid Game effect hit reality TV with a resounding boom. First there came Squid Game: The Challenge, a Netflix-branded British reality show that mimicked everything about its Korean inspiration (minus the killing). Then Amazon produced a rival show that capitalised on the popularity of YouTuber Mr Beast. While Beast Games also eliminated slaughter, it still caught-class action lawsuits for allegedly leaving contestants starving, injured and in need of therapy. But Squid Game's impact has reached further than television screens. In late 2021, dozens of Korean Confederation of Trade Unions members donned the distinct hot pink jumpsuits of the deadly guards in the show to protest about pay and conditions. Last year, as the Korean government was wading through political turmoil following South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law, Hwang used the launch of Squid Game season two to address the similarities between the show and reality. "Season two draws a lot of parallels with what we are witnessing in the world right now," he said while urging Koreans to take to the streets over political unrest. "And with a heavy heart, I feel that watching … Squid Game is not going to be very different from watching the news — and that's how I want you to take it." Hwang has never been reticent about why he signed onto more seasons of Squid Game. "Money," he told BBC. "Even though the first series was such a huge global success, honestly, I didn't make much. So doing the second series will help compensate me for the success of the first one too." The ravenous desire for Squid Game reached further than demand for more episodes, and their dystopian spin-offs. Since the first season, the show about the very worst side of capitalism became a full-on brand. Fashion labels such as Crocs, Puma and Oodie clambered to announce collabs. The distinct green-and-pink Squid Game branding has been plastered on everything from whisky bottles to frozen dumplings, with Netflix bragging about more than 100 'partnerships' with the show. McDonalds Australia released an official Squid Game meal, complete with a dalgona dessert — a reference to the candy-based task in the show that saw characters shot if they didn't complete it in time. But for the show's long-time stars — Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun, who plays the morally corrupt leader of the games, The Front Man — it's never been about taking didactic lessons from a television show. "I don't think [Squid Game] is trying to force a message on the viewers," Lee told ABC Entertainment. "It is just an embodiment of all the social and political issues that are going on in the world, that everyone is feeling. "I think it's just trying to create room for us to have that conversation." Wi agrees, saying his time on the show made him ponder his own choices. "[Squid Game] is showing the world on a smaller scale the side-effects of capitalism," he says. "[Over the three seasons] I was also asking myself, 'Is there humanitarian love and humanity existing in this world still?'" Squid Game season three is streaming on Netflix now.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Business
- Straits Times
While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 29, 2025
While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 29, 2025 Iran could again enrich uranium 'in matter of months' UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi says Iran likely will be able to begin to produce enriched uranium 'in a matter of months,' despite damage to several nuclear facilities from US and Israeli attacks, CBS News said on June 28. Israel launched a bombing campaign on Iranian nuclear and military sites on June 13, saying it was aimed at keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon – an ambition the Islamic republic has consistently denied. The United States subsequently bombed three key facilities used for Tehran's atomic programme. But Mr Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says some of Iran's nuclear programme 'is still standing.' 'They can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that,' Mr Grossi said on June 27, according to a transcript of the interview released on June 28. READ MORE HERE G-7 agrees to exempt US multinationals from global tax The Group of Seven (G-7) nations said on June 28 they have agreed to exempt US multinational companies from a global minimum tax imposed by other countries – a win for President Donald Trump's government, which pushed hard for the compromise. The deal will see US companies benefit from a 'side-by-side' solution under which they will only be taxed at home, on both domestic and foreign profits, the G-7 said, in a statement released by Canada, which holds the group's rotating presidency. The agreement was reached in part due to 'recently proposed changes to the US international tax system' included in Mr Trump's signature domestic policy Bill, which is still being debated in Congress, the statement said. READ MORE HERE Pakistan flash floods and heavy rain kill 32 Heavy rain and flash flooding across Pakistan have killed 32 people including 16 children since the start of the monsoon season this week, disaster management officials said. Flash floods and roof collapses over the past 36 hours have claimed the lives of 19 people, eight of them children, a statement on June 28 by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial disaster management authority said. Of the total deaths, 13 were reported from north-western Swat Valley. READ MORE HERE Fans celebrate Squid Game finale with Seoul parade Thousands of fans gathered in Seoul on June 28 to celebrate the final Squid Game season, ending a global Netflix hit that is seen as a symbol of South Korea's cultural clout. The third and final season was released on June 27, concluding the series that sees desperate people compete in deadly versions of traditional children's games for a massive cash prize. Director Hwang Dong-hyuk said he had 'poured everything' into the series, which launched nearly four years ago. READ MORE HERE Emma Raducanu 'just friends' with Carlos Alcaraz British number one Emma Raducanu refused to be drawn on rumours of a relationship with French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz as the duo gear up for a doubles partnership at the US Open. Raducanu and Alcaraz practiced together at Wimbledon on June 27 as part of a sponsorship commitment and will play alongside each other at Flushing Meadows in September in the mixed doubles. Five-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz revealed last week he had made the request to play with Raducanu, who shot to fame when she won the US Open in 2021. READ MORE HERE Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Squid Game' Director Hwang Dong-Hyuk On Making Seasons 2 And 3
Squid Game creator, writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk (Photo by Ji Sang Chung) Squid Game season 3 has finally dropped, and once again, the dystopian survival thriller is captivating audiences worldwide. When the series first premiered in 2021, it became Netflix's most watched show ever and launched K-dramas into mainstream conversations in the West. For Squid Game creator, writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk, the show's unprecedented success was unexpected—and so was the prospect of doing multiple seasons. Despite the first season's open ending—in which protagonist Seong Gi-hun is about to board a plane but instead turns around and looks directly at the camera—Hwang says that it wasn't done with a second season in mind. 'Through Gi-hun, I wanted to have the audience think about how the world that we live in—the system that we live in—isn't something that we should just take for granted. We should face it directly, question it and think about what we can do about it.' Hwang admits that at the time, he figured that if the series happened to do well and there was a strong demand for a second season, the story could pick up from the moment Gi-hun turns around. 'But I wasn't seriously considering that possibility, nor was I particularly eager to do it,' Hwang says in Korean. 'Physically and mentally, making the first season was so exhausting, so I never thought I'd want to make another season,' he adds in English. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MAY 30: Hwang Dong-hyuk speaks during Netflix's FYSEE Squid Game Season 2 ... More ATAS Official at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on May 30, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo byfor Netflix) South Korean actor Lee Jung-jae (L) poses with the award for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama ... More Series and South Korean director Hwang Dong-hyuk (R) with the Emmy for Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series for "Squid Game" during the 74th Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, on September 12, 2022. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images) What Director Hwang Considered While Making Squid Game Seasons 2 And 3 But as fate would have it, the unprecedented global success of Squid Game meant that the show would be renewed for another season. Hwang initially intended to make only one more season but ended up writing 13 episodes in six months, so he decided to break them up into two separate seasons. (L-R): Director Hwang Dong-hyuk, Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun, and Oh Yeong-su as Oh Il-nam in Squid ... More Game season 1 His most important consideration while creating seasons 2 and 3 was showing Gi-hun's transformation. 'At the beginning of season 1, you see him as this very naïve, loser-like character who's below average on all fronts. But after joining the games and going through that experience, he learns a lesson, and by the end of season 1, he's become a different person," Hwang explains. "So the main focus was, what is Gi-hun going to be capable of doing after he returns to the games? And as he recklessly attempts to stop the games, what kind of person will he become?" Hwang adds that he also wanted to explore the question that Oh Il-nam poses to Gi-hun in season 1: 'Do you still believe in humanity?' Hwang points out that "the most important theme for seasons 2 and 3 was showing what kind of answer Gi-hun arrives at by the end of his journey.' Squid Game Director Admits He's 'Kind Of A Perfectionist' Because Hwang was given only six months to write 13 episodes, he felt the script was lacking in detail. 'So all throughout pre-production and production, I kept revising the script. I'd come back from a shoot, get new ideas and then revise upcoming scenes accordingly,' he reveals. He ended up making a lot of changes to the story, including some substantial ones like rewriting the season 3 finale and altering the fates of Nam-gyu and Min-su. Besides those examples, he admits, 'It's hard to say exactly what stayed true from the beginning and which things changed, because so many details changed. I thought that was the only way I could create a script that was up to my standards.' Director Hwang Dong-hyuk and Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game S1 Listening to Director Hwang describe his creative process and attention to detail, one can't help but get the sense that he's very meticulous and dedicated to his craft. 'Would you say you're a perfectionist?' I ask. 'I think I can say that,' he replies. 'I'm usually a really lazy person—extremely lazy. But once I start something, I have to go all in and see it through to the end. I can't let go of it, so I end up exhausting myself. In that sense, I'm kind of a perfectionist, and maybe that's why it makes me lazier. Because I know how hard I'm going to be on myself when I start something, so I often don't want to start at all,' he says with a laugh. Director Hwang Dong-hyuk in Squid Game S2 Squid Game Casting Controversies Around T.O.P And Park Sung-Hoon Despite his somewhat perfectionist tendencies, not everything went according to plan. In particular, he shares that he wasn't quite prepared for the casting controversies that arose ahead of season 2. When Netflix announced that the cast for the second season would include South Korean rapper, actor and former BIGBANG member T.O.P (real name Choi Seung-hyun), many Koreans protested due to his past marijuana use (drug abuse is often treated as a serious crime in South Korea), though international fans largely seemed to support his casting. Choi Seung-hyun as Thanos in Squid Game S2 "I expected some backlash around T.O.P, but the reaction from the media and the internet in Korea was even more negative than I had anticipated," Hwang says. "Since there'd been many previous cases of celebrities having been away from the public eye after smoking marijuana and then making a comeback, I thought it'd be okay for Choi Seung-hyun to resume acting, since enough time had passed. I was genuinely surprised by how much backlash there was." But Hwang adds that public sentiment in Korea around T.O.P has improved since the release of season 2. "Fortunately, now that there are many people who really like his character [Thanos], and Seung-hyun has also been able to put out a sincere apology through interviews and other ways, I think the situation has been somewhat resolved." Park Sung-hoon as Hyun-ju in Squid Game S3 Meanwhile, the casting of cisgender male actor Park Sung-hoon as the transgender character Hyun-ju also sparked criticism, but mostly from international viewers. "When I first considered him for the role, I thought it was a natural choice because in Korea, there aren't any transgender actors available to play a transgender character. There's literally only one person you see on TV in Korea who is openly trans," Hwang says. "But I know there was quite a bit of backlash about that decision overseas, especially in Western countries where people may not fully understand the reality in Korea." Hwang says that both he and Park did their best to explain the casting choice publicly and mentions a moment that gave him particular comfort. 'One day, I saw this YouTube video from an American transgender influencer who said that she was initially very concerned,' Hwang says. 'But she said that after watching the show, she was extremely taken by the genuineness of Hyun-ju's character and loved her. So that made me very happy and relieved to know that our intentions had really worked.' INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MAY 31: Choi Seung-hyun aka T.O.P, Kang Ae-shim and Park Sung-hoon pose with ... More Squid Game pink guards at NETFLIX TUDUM 2025: THE LIVE EVENT at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Photo byfor Netflix) Will There Be A Season 4 Of Squid Game? As for what's next for the Squid Game franchise, Hwang laughs off the possibility of a fourth season. "No, not another season. Maybe a spinoff, if the opportunity comes up. I know many people out there are curious to know the backstory of many of these characters, so I do think a spinoff could be fun,' he says. 'But it's just something that I'm tossing around—nothing has been decided yet.' NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 18: (L-R) Park Sung-hoon, Kang Ae-shim, Lee Jung-jae, Hwang Dong-hyuk, Lee ... More Byung-hun, Jo Yu-ri and Yim Si-wan attend the Netflix's Squid Game S3 New York Premiere at The Paris Theater on June 18, 2025 in New York City. (Photo byfor Netflix) With the third and final season of Squid Game finally being released out into the world, I ask him how he feels now that the blockbuster series he's created is coming to an end. 'It feels bittersweet in every sense of the word,' he answers. 'There was just so much pressure working on this show for the past six years. At first, I was worried that people might not like it. And then came the pressure of people liking it too much, and feeling like I had to meet their expectations. It felt like I was carrying a huge load on my shoulders for six years. And now that it's gone, I feel a great sense of relief." He quickly adds, 'At the same time, this project also gave me so many wonderful memories and allowed me to meet so many wonderful people. These were six of the most amazing years of my life, so I'm going to be sad to say goodbye to those moments. I'm just feeling a mix of a lot of different emotions." Squid Game season 3 is now streaming on Netflix. SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - JUNE 09: Director Hwang Dong-Hyuk, actors Lee Jung-Jae, Lee Byung-Hun, Yim ... More Si-Wan, Kang Ha-Neul, Wi Ha-Joon, Park Sung-Hoon, Lee Jin-Uk, Park Gyu-Young, Yang Dong-Geun, Chae Gook-Hee, Roh Jae-Won, Lee David, Kang Ae-Sim and Jo Yuri attend a press conference for Netflix's "Squid Game Season 3" at Seoul Dragon City on June 09, 2025 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Han Myung-Gu/WireImage)
Japan Today
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Japan Today
Fans celebrate 'Squid Game' finale with Seoul parade
Fans gathered near Seoul's Gyeongbokgung Palace, led by marchers dressed in the bright pink uniforms worn by the show's mysterious masked agents Thousands of fans gathered in Seoul on Saturday to celebrate the final "Squid Game" season, ending a global Netflix hit that is seen as a symbol of South Korea's cultural clout. The third and final season was released Friday, concluding the series that sees desperate people compete in deadly versions of traditional children's games for a massive cash prize. Director Hwang Dong-hyuk said he had "poured everything" into the series, which launched nearly four years ago. "So while it's sentimental to see it end," he said, "there's also a sense of relief". Fans gathered near Seoul's Gyeongbokgung Palace, led by marchers dressed in the bright pink uniforms worn by the show's mysterious masked agents. They were followed by others carrying oversize toys from one of the games featured in the series, along with the show's flag. Park Sang-gyu, a fan who stayed up all night watching the final season, said the dystopian drama was "ultimately a story about people". "As you watch, you realise it's not just about the games -- it reflects many aspects of real life." The walls of the Seoul Metropolitan Library were lit up with key scenes, including Young-hee -- the giant motion-sensing animatronic doll featured in one of its brutal games. Lee Byung-hun, who played the masked Front Man overseeing the competition, said the show had become "something of a cultural phenomenon". "One that has drawn one of the boldest lines in the history of Korean content," he said. The first two seasons of the series are among Netflix's most-watched shows, and in 2022, Hwang and the show's leading actor, Lee Jung-jae, became the first Asian men to win Emmy Awards. The final season follows its hero Gi-hun, played by Lee, as he returns to the ultra-violent games to dismantle them from within after surviving the first round. Along with filmmaker Bong Joon-ho's Oscar-winning 2019 thriller "Parasite" and K-pop sensation BTS, "Squid Game" is considered one of the most powerful examples of South Korea's rise as a global cultural force. © 2025 AFP
