‘Squid Game’ director says Netflix rejected series 10 years ago

The show creator, writer and director, Hwang Dong-hyuk recently spoke to The Korean Times about the challenges he encountered in funding the blockbuster drama and how it took ten years to get a nod from Netflix.

“After about 12 years, the world has changed into a place where such peculiar, violent survival stories are actually welcomed,” Dong-hyuk shared.

Originally titled ‘Round Six’ the project got greenlighted by the streaming platform in 2019.

Dong-hyuk reportedly came up with the story in 2008 while living with his mother and grandmother but with no one interested and job scarce, he was compelled to sell his laptop for $675, thereby halting the script’s development.

The nine-episode series has garnered quite the buzz since it premiered in September. Recently it was reported that South Korea was suing Netflix owing to the streamer causing a traffic surge.