Squid Game Director Announces New Movie: Killing Old People Club

Hwang Dong-Hyuk, the director of Netflix’s hit South Korean drama Squid Game, has revealed that he is developing a new project called Killing Old People Club. Dong-Hyuk, once a relative unknown outside of Korea, is now a household name after Squid Game became the most watched series in Netflix’s history, surpassing Bridgerton to take the crown. It reached number one in 94 countries and totaled over 1.65 billion hours viewed within its first 28 days. It is estimated that the show had generated nearly $1 billion dollars in value against a production budget of only $21 million.

While the show was an undeniable success it had very humble beginnings. Dong-Hyuk conceived of the show's idea after struggling financially early in his life and wrote an initial draft back in 2008. Originally conceptualized as a feature film, Squid Game was eventually commissioned by Netflix in 2016 upon the launch of the streaming service in South Korea. Dong-Hyuk has been open about how Netflix were the only production company that would have taken the project on, as its extreme violence would have worried investors. Now, Dong-Hyuk is parlaying Squid Game's success into a new film project.

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According to Variety, Dong-Hyuk is developing a movie called Killing Old People Club. The project will be based on the works of Italian philosopher and writer Umberto Eco, and a 25 page treatment has already been drafted. Dong-Hyuk is also well aware that this film might prove to be too much for some people, as he describes how he might have to hide from old people after it comes out.

Eco, who first saw fame with the publication of 1983’s The Name of the Rose is an interesting character for Dong-Hyuk to draw inspiration from, as much of the writer’s work contains a similar level of social critique to that explored by the director in Squid Game. Exactly what inspired Killing Old People Club is unsure, but whatever Dong-Hyuk does produce is sure to start similar polemical debates as were found after the show released in 2021. Much of this will no doubt stem from the violence that the director is worried might alienate pensioners.

Whether or not Killing Old People Club will see similar success as Squid Game is unsure, as hit foreign-language Netflix productions often have a flash-in-the-pan period of popularity. However, the hype that surrounded the show reached such a furore that it might have surpassed the normal levels of recognition achieved by its peers, with Netflix describing it as having pierced the cultural zeitgeist. This could therefore translate to a wider audience for Dong-Hyuk’s work in general, and his new film might even see widespread international release.

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Source: Variety