'Squid Game' faced countless rejections for over a decade

The popular Netflix thriller survival show “Squid Game” was rejected by studios for more than 10 years as the story was called unrealistic and grotesque.

Hwang Dong-hyuk, the brains behind the superhit Korean show, believes the show gave more appeal thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The world has changed,” he was quoted saying in the report. “All of these points made the story very realistic for people compared to a decade ago.”

Minyoung Kim, who serves as the Vice President of Netflix’s content in the Asia-Pacific, said that the show highlights how morality gets questioned when it comes to a person’s worth.

“We are not horses, we’re all humans,” she said. “That is the question the show really wants to throw at you.”

It was also reported that Hwang had stopped writing the script as he had to sell his laptop. He sold it for $675.

Squid Game is the story of adults playing a series of six children games to win $40 million in order to pay off their debt and turn their life around. Failure to do so will result in their death.

He came up with the concept when he was living with his mother and grandmother.

Netflix mentioned that it acquired the show back in 2019. It has been dubbed in 13 languages and subtitles are available in 31 languages.

It has been the top show on the streaming service as more than 95 per cent of the audience comes from outside South Korea.