“Squid Game” director confirmed the production team received a humble amount of money compared to its success
Bringing in a huge amount of money for Netflix but did the “Squid Game” team receive what they deserve?
25 days after its premiere on Netflix, “Squid Game” has become its most successful production, attracting 111 million viewers. This number proves that the drama has become one of the most popular TV series in history. This is unprecedented in the Korean film industry and made the global audience even more interested in Korean films and dramas.
According to statistics leaked from Netflix insiders, the company estimates “Squid Game” to bring in about $ 900 million USD in profit – a terrific number, surpassing many Marvel or DC superhero blockbusters, while the amount of money that Netflix spent on Squid Game is only 21.4 million USD. Thus, it can be seen that Squid Game is an extremely smart investment of this online TV system.
The success of Squid Game with both the reputation and profits also makes people believe that the production team must receive a fortune for their hard work. However, it seems that they were wrong. According to the latest revelation of director Hwang Dong-hyuk, the amount they receive from Netflix is not as great as the whole world thinks.
Director Hwang shared that Netflix only paid the exact amount according to the original contract. After “Squid Game” is released on Netflix, the team will not receive any additional “commissions” or bonuses based on the performance of the series. The director did no
The process of making “Squid Game” made Hwang suffer great physical and mental damages because of the work pressure. He also constantly came up with new ideas during filming, which caused episodes to be modified as well.
In an interview, Hwang revealed that he had lost… six teeth due to stress. “Squid Game” is a “crazy” project with strange content and extreme violence. For years in a row, its script had been rejected by many major Korean film companies. When selected by Netflix, the drama also entered top 10 highest-budget Korean series, so the burden must have been great.
Netflix’s single payment is not so new. Instead of estimating each film’s revenue and giving additional rewards to actors, this service regularly “buys out” their performances in films. Usually, this number will be very large, even larger than movies’ remuneration – especially with A-list stars. In return, the actors will not receive any money from the work later.
