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While Squid Game Season 2 gets underway, fans of the runaway hit Netflix K-drama can look forward to Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk's upcoming "controversial" new film.
Speaking at the MIPTV television market event in Cannes on Monday, April 4, Hwang revealed the next project he's currently working on is a film with the working title Killing Old People Club, or K.O. Club, according to Variety and Korean media outlets.
While the director remained tight-lipped about further details of the plot of Squid Game Season 2, Hwang said his next film is expected to be "yet another controversial piece of work," South Korea's JoongAng and other Korean media reported.
Here's everything we know so far about the Squid Game director's highly anticipated new film Killing Old People Club/K.O. Club.
It Will Be 'More Violent' Than Squid Game
The enthralling Netflix K-drama about an extreme survival competition features some shocking bloodbaths of deadly eliminations. But Hwang's upcoming film will be "a lot more violent than Squid Game," the director said, according to JoongAng.
An 'Intergenerational War' Unfolds
The Squid Game creator revealed the new film is about "an intergenerational war," according to South Korea's Chosun.
The director joked that people may find they'll "need to avoid and hide themselves from the elderly after this film is released," reported Chosun and other Korean media.
It's Inspired by the Work of Umberto Eco
K.O. Club is inspired by the work of Umberto Eco, the late Italian writer and philosopher, Hwang revealed at the MIPTV event this week.
While he didn't specify which one of Eco's works inspired his upcoming film, based on the film's working title and anticipated high level of violence, the Squid Game director may have drawn inspiration from Eco's final essay collection titled "How to Pretend to Understand a Crazy World," according to South Korea's Donga and other Korean media.
According to Donga, the collection includes a short essay titled "How Old People Survive," written by Eco in 2011, which includes text saying: "If you look at any public institution or a private company, those who occupy the top positions are the elderly who have yet to die" and "young people are clamoring due to the lack of jobs because of them [the elderly]."
In Eco's essay, these notions raise the idea of "getting rid of" the elderly in a society by establishing a "removal list," with old people hiding away to avoid being hunted down by young people, which may have inspired Hwang's new movie.
This extreme conflict between the young and the elderly could potentially be the premise of the upcoming film, with a chilling hunt for old people unfolding in a future society, according to South Korea's Woman Chosun.
The Story for Killing Old People Already Laid Out
At the MIPTV event, Hwang said he has yet to write the script for Squid Game Season 2 but revealed he's already written a 25-page treatment for the K.O. Club, according to Variety, as well as Korean media.
Regarding Squid Game Season 2, the director said "all I can say" is that "we are preparing for a better story and am currently collecting ideas for Season 2," according to South Korea's Hankook newspaper.
Hwang said he'll be writing the script for the second season upon his return to South Korea and is "hoping for it to be released on Netflix in late 2024," according to Donga and other Korean media.
About the writer
Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in Read more