Netflix’s South Korean drama smash hit “Squid Game” is not only the streamer’s most successful series to date, it’s one of their most cost-effective as well.
Bloomberg reports that the price tag Netflix shelled out for the nine-episode series came in at just $21.4 million – averaging out at a budget of just $2.4 million per episode.
That’s a fraction of the likes of “The Crown” ($10 million per episode) or “Stranger Things” ($8 million per episode), helped along by being an original work and utilizing local Korean talent.
In fact, it’s less than the $24.1 million spent on Dave Chappelle’s controversial final one-hour comedy special “The Closer” which has caused multiple headaches for the streamer this week and is leading to a potential staff walkout.
SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE “SQUID GAME” FINALE
The budget talk comes as writer/director Hwang Dong-hyuk tells THR he remains undecided if he wants to make another season and even if he does it likely won’t follow first season’s main character Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae). Rather he has other characters in mind to make it more of an ensemble piece:
“For example, the story of the police officer and the story of his brother, The Front Man. So if I end up creating season two, I’d like to explore that storyline – what is going on between those two brothers?
And then I could also go into the story of that recruiter in the suit who plays the game of ddakji with Gi-hun and gives him the card in the first episode. And, of course, we could go with Gi-hun’s story as he turns back, and explore more about how he’s going to navigate through his reckoning with the people who are designing the games. So, I don’t know yet, but I’ll just say there are a lot of possibilities out there for season two storylines.”
He also discussed the show’s ending and in particular the final scene at the airport with Gi-hun turning back from his flight. In the process, he shoots down one common interpretation which is that Gi-hun is turning back to get revenge on the game’s organisers. That’s not necessarily the case:
“It’s true that season one ended in an open-ended way, but I actually thought that this could be good closure for the whole story too. Season one ends with Gi-hun turning back and not getting on the plane to the States. And that was, in fact, my way of communicating the message that you should not be dragged along by the competitive flow of society, but that you should start thinking about who has created the whole system – and whether there is some potential for you to turn back and face it. So it’s not necessarily Gi-hun turning back to get revenge.”
Also don’t think that the show’s popularity will necessarily result in him hurrying up and getting on with a follow-up. In fact, the filmmaker indicates the global pressure from all this popularity may deter him from doing more:
“The pressure on me is huge now, with such a big audience waiting for a season two. Because of all that pressure, I haven’t decided yet whether or not I should do another season.
But if you look at it in a positive way, because so many people loved season one and are expecting good things for season two, there are people everywhere in the world offering their opinions about where the show should go.
I could actually pull ideas from fans all around the world to create the next season. I think that’s what I’m wrestling with right now – that I shouldn’t just view it as a huge amount of pressure, but think of all of this love and support I’m receiving as a big box of inspiration that I can leverage for season two.”
Hwang served as the sole writer and director for all nine episodes, coming up with the idea for the project and trying to sell it initially as a movie back in 2009. Thus it’s likely if the show does get a follow-up, it will take its time and not be rushed out.