Leonardo DiCaprio could be invited to join the cast of Netflix’s Emmy winning global smash hit “Squid Game” in a future season, series writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk has said.
At a Netflix-hosted congratulatory press conference in Seoul on Friday, when asked if any known Hollywood actor would star in “Squid Game” Season 2, Hwang said: “There will be no known Hollywood actor in Season 2. That’s not in the plan and if the stage changes, maybe in Season 3 – but for Season 2, it is still set in Korea. Leonardo DiCaprio did say he’s a big fan of ‘Squid Game,’ so maybe if time or chances allow, we can ask him to join the games.”
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The second season of will commence shooting in 2023 and release in 2024, Hwang confirmed. “We will start shooting Season 2 next year and it’ll be released the following year,” Hwang said, adding that the upcoming season would see improvements in production budgets and the games that will be played in the season have been confirmed.
The “Squid Game” team was out in force at the press meet to celebrate the unprecedented success at the Emmy Awards, except lead actor winner Lee Jung-jae, who was absent due to the North American premiere of his directorial debut “The Hunt” at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Lee told the media via a video recording: “Though much news about ‘Squid Game’ has been released and we’ve received many awards, what’s more important and happy for me is the fact that Korean content is reaching out and well-loved by so many people around the world. I hope more Korean content, similar to Seasons 2 and 3 of ‘Squid Game,’ will be released so that more brilliant filmmakers, actors and actresses will gain more opportunities to meet global audiences.”
“Squid Game” premiered as a Netflix original almost exactly year ago and it has made waves globally being the first Korean drama to rule Netflix’s top 10 weekly most-watched TV show charts globally in 94 countries, with a whopping 1.65 billion hours of viewing in the first 28 days after its Sept. 17 premiere, according to the streamer.
Besides accolades from the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards, “Squid Games” garnered 14 Emmy Award nominations and had six historic wins including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Lee, Outstanding Directing for A Drama Series for Hwang, Outstanding Guest Actress in A Drama Series (Lee Yoo-mi), Outstanding Production Design for Narrative Contemporary Program, Outstanding Stunt Performance and Outstanding Special Effects in A Single Episode.
Hwang said: “Korea has always had eyes set on a global market when we created these things [content]. I think we create high quality content because of the highly competitive Korean society and as a result K-content became well loved by people all over the world.”
As the first Korean director to win the Emmys, Hwang said he always had the goal to go international but never expected this big success and that he hopes that the Emmy wins will serve as an inspiration to future international creators.
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