Squid Game Secures Bigger Budget for Season 2

The Netflix Korean-language series Squid Game took the world by storm last year and it easily became the biggest series ever on the streamer. Since then, it has won several awards, a reality series based on the challenges featured in the series was given a green light, and an official renewal for a second season. As the series is gearing up for another installment, it looks like it is going to be bigger than ever in terms of its budget.

In a recent interview with Variety, Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk discussed the huge success of the first season as well as his plans for the highly-anticipated second season where he revealed some interesting details about what we might expect in its next installment.

While the first season was designed to be a self-contained story, the ending did set up an opportunity to continue the series beyond. "There are very small loose knots throughout the first season, so to speak, things that I didn’t conclude, and put in little rooms for further expansion," Hwang said regarding how he will continue the series.

Hwang also confirmed that Lee Jung-jae and Lee Byung-hun will obviously return in the second season given that their respective characters didn't die. However, when asked if Gong Yoo will also return, he simply answered with a smile, "Yeah, you might." Regarding the chances of the return of the dead characters, he said, "They can come back in dreams — like maybe in Gi-hun’s dream."

While Hwang didn't give away any details regarding the plot of the second season or the games that we will see the contestants play, he did reveal that the next installment will have an increased budget. "Yes, I believe so. I cannot tell you how much, but yes, we’ll have bigger budget and I’ll get paid a little bit more," he said.

It is interesting to hear that the series will have a bigger budget for the second season which means that we might expect a bigger scope or games on a larger scale in its next chapter. The series also deserved to have an increased budget considering the success of the first season. As long as Hwang will be satisfied creatively, this is good news all around and it just shows that Netflix is indeed seeing it as their next big franchise.

Also Read: Squid Game Star Admits Being 'So Happy' About Sae-Byeok's Death Scene

The second season of Squid Game is slated to premiere by late 2023 or early 2024.