Netflix is trying to fill the void of the most famous series in its history, with suitable and similar alternatives. Therefore, it is likely that followers of the platform will come across a promotional campaign for a new program entitled “Squid Game: the Challenge.” In light of the similarity in decor, toys, green uniforms, pink soldiers, and the giant “Young Hee” doll, the viewer may think for a moment that the second season of the South Korean series is ready, but beware of confusion.
Prize worth $4.56 million
What Netflix is preparing to launch on November 22 is a reality TV game show, adapted from the original Squid Game. After the resounding success achieved by the series, the global platform decided to invest in its idea. At the beginning of this year, filming of 10 episodes began in Britain in which 456 players competed to win $4.56 million, within a scenario identical to the series with minor modifications.
Tens of thousands of people from around the world applied to participate in the program, but Netflix and the company “Studio Lambert”, which produced the work, stressed that participants were limited to 456, similar to the original series. Unlike “The Squid Game,” the program’s characters are not from South Korea. There was an insistence that most of them come from North America, and that all of them speak in English, in order to ensure viewership.
Returning to the prize that players are competing to win, it is the highest in the history of game shows. When Squid Game fans criticized this materialistic approach taken by the adapted program, which contradicts the concept of the original series, Netflix, along with executive producer Stephen Lambert, came to defend “The Challenge.”
In response to accusations made by contestants who participated in the program, describing it as cruel and harmful and false, Lambert confirmed in a press interview that the match would not be bloody. The executive producer pointed out that “the viewer will not see gunfire or blood, unlike the original.” As for the liquid that will come out of the contestants’ uniforms when they explode after losing, it will resemble black ink. Netflix also denied some media reports that reported injuries during filming, which required ambulances to enter the site.
One of the clips distributed by the global platform from “The Squid Game: The Challenge” (Netflix)
The series is being filmed
10 exciting episodes of “The Squid Game: The Challenge” may not satisfy the hunger of fans of the original series, but they precede the second season by about a year. It is now certain that a new part of Squid Game will see the light at the end of next year, and it is currently in the process of filming. There is no specific date yet nor a promotional video, but Netflix previously announced this by revealing the identities of the actors.
Filming for the second part of “The Squid Game” began in July 2023, and is expected to continue for at least 10 months. Perhaps the most notable difference between the two versions is the production value. After Squid Game entered Netflix as an obscure series in September 2021, it ended up topping the most views in the platform’s history, and today it enjoys an imaginative production and a huge team.
Most of the faces that will appear in the second season are new, since the majority of the characters spent in the “Deadly Game” during the first season. The series’ author and director, Hwang Dong-hyuk, comments on the matter, saying: “Many characters died, especially the beloved ones. “I’m sorry that I killed them so easily, but I didn’t know that we were entering a new season.”
Squid Game writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk and actor Lee Jong-jae receive the Emmy Awards last year (AFP)
Actors… between survivors and new faces
“A new and different round of games,” according to Huang, which viewers will encounter in the second season. As for the forefront of the players, actor Lee Jong Jae will return as “Song Ji Hoon,” who is the only one who survived death last season. With him, the “Front Man” and the investigating policeman, “Hwang Joon-ho”, return.
As for the new actors, Netflix announced them through the promotional video, including singers such as Go Yu Ri and Choi Sung Hyun. At a time when many details about the characters and roles were not revealed, what is striking is the diversity between females and males, unlike the first part, which was dominated by men.
The new group of actors joining the second season of Squid Game (Netflix)
The story of the first season continues in the second season. After Song Ji Hoon succeeded in getting out of the game alive, but without winning it convincingly, he returns to continue the struggle for survival. He discovers that many new players have joined the challenge, and that he has to start from scratch again. It is clear that the hero of the first season will be the focus of attention again in the second season.
The most prominent thing that actor Lee Jong Jae revealed about his character in the next season came in a press interview in which he said that “revenge will be the title of the second season,” and that he is likely to form, along with the “front man,” the pivotal duo in the series.
Song Ji Hoon’s character returns in the second season of the series (Netflix)
Does the storm of success blow twice?
Netflix has high hopes for the next season of “The Squid Game,” but despite the huge investment in it, no one can guarantee that the experience will be repeated. The storm of success may not blow twice for Squid Game, especially since its nine episodes formed a phenomenon around the world two years ago. According to the global platform’s numbers, the series was viewed in 142 million homes, and accumulated 1.65 billion viewing hours one month after it began showing.
Perhaps the truest expression of the overwhelming flood caused by the series is what its writer and director said: “It took 12 years for Squid Game to see the light, while it took 12 days for Squid Game to become the most popular Netflix series ever.”
