UPDATED 10/26, 7:45 p.m. ET: LeBron caught wind of Hwang-Dong-hyuk’s comments and responded on Twitter, writing, “This can’t be real right??!! I hope not.”
See original story below.
Squid Game creator Hwang-Dong-hyuk addressed LeBron James’ comments regarding the finale of his widely popular Netflix show in a profile for the Guardian.
“Have you seen Space Jam 2?” he jokingly asked. “LeBron James is cool and can say what he wants. I respect that. I’m very thankful he watched the whole series. But I wouldn’t change my ending. That’s my ending. If he has his own ending that would satisfy him, maybe he could make his own sequel. I’ll check it out and maybe send him a message saying, ‘I liked your whole show, except the ending.’”
Hwang’s remarks come after James spoke about his gripe with the last few moments in Squid Game with Los Angeles Lakers teammate Anthony Davis following a post-game press conference.
SPOILERS AHEAD
LeBron didn’t like that Seong Gi-hun chose to presumably return to game (or try to expose it), instead of boarding a flight to see his daughter in the United States. “I didn’t like the ending, though,” he told Davis. “I know they’ll start it off with a Season 2 but, like, get on the fucking flight and go see your daughter, bro. Like what are you doing?”
Seong had already walked away with 46.5 billion won, or nearly $39 million USD, slightly less than what James makes in the 2021-22 season.
Netflix announced earlier this month that Squid Game became the streaming giant’s biggest series launch of all-time with a global reach of 142 million households. Bloomberg estimates Squid Game, which costs $21.4 million to produce, will generate about $900 million in revenue.
When asked if his bank account now resembles that of the character who wins the prize money in his show, Hwang said Netflix has limited the earnings to what is outlined in his deal. “I’m not that rich,” he said. “But I do have enough. I have enough to put food on the table. And it’s not like Netflix is paying me a bonus. Netflix paid me according to the original contract.”
Hwang said creating Squid Game was “physically, mentally and emotionally draining,” adding, “I kept having new ideas and revising the episodes as we were filming so the amount of work multiplied.” He even lost six teeth in the process.
The idea for Squid Game stems from his own personal financial struggles after Hwang, his mother, and grandmother were forced to take out loans in order to stay afloat following 2009’s global financial crisis. His mother was already retired at the time, and he was working on a film that couldn’t get financed.
During what he considers to be the “low point in my life,” Hwang started identifying with the characters in survival game comics, such as Battle Royale and Liar Game, and wondered if he would ever participate in a survival game to make money for his family. He put his own spin on the genre by incorporating squid game, a version of tag that he played as a child.
Hwang rejects the notion that Squid Game is a profound take on capitalism. “It’s not profound! It’s very simple! I do believe that the overall global economic order is unequal and that around 90% of the people believe that it’s unfair,” he said. He does, however, admit that he wanted to make a show that resonated with people across the world. “I wanted to create something that would resonate not just for Korean people but globally,” Hwang explained. “This was my dream.”
The success of Squid Game has inevitably led to discussions of a possible sequel. “Of course there is talk. That’s inevitable because it’s been such a success. I am considering it,” Hwang said. “I have a very high-level picture in my mind, but I’m not going to work on it straight away.”
Netflix Global TV head Bela Bajaria told Vulture that the streamer is “upbeat” about the possibility of a second season, but understands that Hwang is currently prioritizing “a film and other things he’s working on.”
“There’s a film I really want to make. I’m thinking about which to do first. I’m going to talk to Netflix,” Hwang said. Bajaria mentioned seeking help for Hwang in the form of a writers’ room and directors, who would lighten the load that he took on to create Season 1.
As for what Season 2 could be about, Hwang spoke with The Times about it revolving around “the issue with police officers,” or “the story of the Frontman.”
“I think the issue with police officers is not just an issue in Korea. I see it on the global news that the police force can be very late on acting on things—there are more victims or a situation gets worse because of them not acting fast enough,” he said. “This was an issue that I wanted to raise. Maybe in season two I can talk about this more.”
