When season one of Squid Game was first launched on Netflix in September 2021, the amount of violence onscreen was shocking. Under the lead of Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk, the show featured contestants forced to partake in childhood games turned into gory competitions for money. Like a mix between The Hunger Games and Battle Royale, the show quickly had betrayal and bloodshed established as major themes.
However, since its release, Squid Game has become one of the world’s newest and biggest pop culture icons. The pink and green uniforms became instantly recognizable and imitations spread across social media. Its cast and director have won awards at the Golden Globes and the People’s Choice Awards, among many others. The world is on the edge of its seat waiting for Squid Game season 2 to release.
The inspiration behind Hwang Dong-hyuk’s newest project
In the meantime, however, Squid Game’s Director Dong-hyuk has confirmed that he has a new project in the works. According to IGN Nordic, the new project, called Killing Old People Club, is reportedly based on a novel by Umberto Eco, an Italian essayist most famous for writing The Name of the Rose (1980), which was adapted into a TV miniseries in 2019, as well as a 1986 movie starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater. Currently, the novel behind Killing Old People Club is unknown; however, Director Dong-hyuk’s track record promises a hard-hitting, gory. no-holds-barred masterpiece. Dong-hyuk himself has even stated that the new project will push the boundaries of respectable television. However, according to Variety, Dong-hyuk has also gone on record to say he is prioritizing Squid Game season 2 over his new project, and he will travel back to Korea in order to finish season 2 and a possible season 3 before moving forward on this new project.
If this new project follows Squid Game‘s theme, then the world can expect another smash hit filled with emotion, social commentary, and yes, horrible violence. Watchers beware.