Squid Game’s remarkable success came out of nowhere, catapulting writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk and his ensemble to global celebrity and making them the hottest commodity in Hollywood. This has sparked a rush among the big agencies to sign Hwang and the other performers, the great majority of whom are unrepresented in Hollywood. According to reports, Hwang recently met with the leaders of the main talent agencies, including CAA (soon to be combined with ICM), WME, and UTA. He’s still debating who to sign with, according to reports. According to insiders, the cast, lead by Lee Jung-jae, Jung HoYeon, and Park Hae-soo, has also been attending agency/management meetings this week.
Hwang and the cast are all in town, having flown in for the show’s major press junket on Monday, following its blockbuster success. It would be highly profitable to sign the show’s creator and cast, given Netflix is planning a second season, which Hwang revealed on the red carpet at the Monday event. Season 1 was produced on a low-budget of $2.4 million each episode ($21.4 million in total), with an estimated worth of $900 million for the streamer, according to Bloomberg statistics.
The actors and Hwang were given no-frills contracts, as is usual of Netflix’s local-language films.
Hwang recently told The Guardian, “I’m not that wealthy.” “However, I’ve had enough. I have enough money to feed my family. And it’s not like I’m getting a raise from Netflix. Netflix honoured my contract and paid me on time.”
All of that is anticipated to change in Season 2, with prominent Hollywood agents stepping in to negotiate large rises in the creator’s and performers’ contracts. In addition, the performers’ and creators’ new Hollywood agents will try to take advantage of Squid Game’s popularity to get feature and other chances for them.
Wi Ha-Joon, Oh Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, Greg Chun, and Kim Joo-Ryung are among the series’ cast members.
