Oyogist has learned that South Korean Drama, Squid game”, was originally conceived as a film more than a decade ago.
But the moment Hwang Dong-hyuk, its creator, pitched the idea about heavily indebted contestants competing for money in deadly versions of children’s games, many thought the idea wasn’t a good one.
“It was too bizarre and people thought it wouldn’t be a money-making film,” Mr Hwang said during an interview.
Today the series is a global sensation.
Few days ago, Netflix confirmed that the series had emassed over 111m viewers in its first 28 days, making it the streaming service’s most successful debut ever.
The blockbuster drama is the latest to break the language barrier on Netflix.
“Money Heist”, a Spanish television series that was cancelled after just two seasons in Spain, was resurrected on Netflix and became one of the platform’s biggest hits.
Its fourth season raked in 65m viewers in its first 28 days.
“Lupin”, a French heist drama inspired by the adventures of Arsène Lupin, a fictional detective, was another smash hit, amassing 76m viewers in its first 28 days.
Netflix says that in America views of foreign-language titles are up by 71% since 2019; 97% of American subscribers watched at least one non-English show in the past year.
