By Sohee Kim and Lucas Shaw
For Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of Round 6the most popular program in the history of Netflix Inc.writing and directing all nine dark and surprising episodes was so intense that he lost seven or eight teeth in the process.
“When I’m really tired or stressed, I always have gum problems,” he said during an interview at a recording studio outside Seoul.
After the first season ended, Hwang initially had no plans to continue the show. But ultimately, the desire of Netflix by recurring global successes eclipsed any lingering concerns about collateral dental damage. Hwang began working on writing more episodes.
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On December 26th, the day after Netflix aired its first professional football games, the second season of Round 6 It will arrive with much fanfare.
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“People loved that first season — you saw Halloween costumes and people wanting to play the games and share the iconography,” said Bela Bajaria, director of content at Netflixin a recent interview. “People wanted more of this. When they love a show, they want to live it, experience it, connect with it.”
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According to Netflix’s internal calculations, the first season of Round 6 generated US$900 million in value to the company streaming shortly after its premiere in September 2021. With the arrival of the second season, Round 6 stands out as one of the first TV shows on South Korea to have a global franchisecovering everything from reality television to video games to in-person fan experiences.
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Hwang’s anti-capitalist parable grew out of his own hopelessness. During the 2008 financial crisis, which devastated the South Korean film industry, the now 53-year-old screenwriter was in a difficult situation. With just a few credits to his name and less than $10 left in your bank accounthe wrote a story about a survival game in which Koreans in debt and without money compete to the death for an unimaginable fortune.
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Once completed, the original script proved confusing, violent and too expensive for any buyer in South Korea. While the idea didn’t sell, Hwang found work directing a trilogy of films for local studios. Until he found a buyer.
After introducing its streaming service in South Korea in 2016, Netflix was looking for programming that major broadcast networks and movie studios had overlooked. Enter Hwang. From the beginning, given the popularity of South Korean film and TV across the region, the Netflix team in Seoul believed that Round 6 it could be a hit in its home country and potentially reach new viewers across Asia, where the streaming giant was investing tens of billions of dollars to expand its presence.
In fall 2021, the show — an exploration of the lengths desperate people will go to survive in disturbing conditions — made its debut, arriving in a world still intensely stressed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Almost overnight, the macabre series turned into a global phenomenonleading Netflix’s list of most watched titles on all continents.
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Critics were also impressed, and Round 6 became the first foreign-language program nominated for an Emmy for best dramaas it ricocheted through US culture. Saturday Night Live did a parody, and the YouTube star MrBeast created a game show inspired by Round 6 — the resulting video has been viewed more than 660 million times. Netflix told Hwang that if he had a good idea, he would love to continue the partnership.
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Most Korean dramas only last one season, but Hwang left the door open to extending the story with how he ended the final episode.
As discussions for a second season grew, Hwang hired powerhouse talent agency Creative Artists Agency, as well as a Hollywood law firm that represents clients including Scarlett Johansson e Matthew McConaughey. In subsequent negotiations, his new team assured him he would have plenty of cash to deal with any future dental emergencies.
“We felt that doing a second season would provide more adequate compensation, befitting the success of this show,” Hwang said.
In May 2022, he began writing, eventually mapping out two additional seasons. In the summer of 2023, producers were back at work filming new scenes in a studio on the outskirts of Seoul.
With new programming on the way, Netflix looked for other ways to expand the franchise. The company ordered a reality showadapted from the series and using a similar setting. began to develop a videogame multiplayer based on the program. In New York, Netflix created a “escape room” commercial experience where fans could test their own survival instincts. And the streaming giant held discussions with the award-winning director David Fincherdirector of “A Rede Social” e “Fight Club”about the possibility of producing a adaptation in English.
Meanwhile, ahead of the show’s return in December, Netflix is rolling out ads everywhere from TVs to billboards and New York City subway cars, starting one of the biggest promotional campaigns in the company’s history. In a mall in the Philippines, Netflix erected a replica of a giant, scary doll that appeared in the first season. Several major consumer brands, including Crocs e Johnny Walker, joined the company to create a series of Round 6 themed products.
Although Round 6 is a global phenomenon, it has paid especially high dividends in Asia, which surpassed Latin America as the third largest streaming service regionwith 52.6 million customers, at the end of September. In recent years, producers in South Korea have delivered several other global hits to Netflix, including “An Extraordinary Lawyer” and “All of Us Are Dead.”
A third and final season of Round 6 will debut in 2025. After that, Hwang said he is ready to take a long pause. “This will be my last series,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll do it again. Humanly, physically, mentally, I am pushing my limit beyond what is possible.”
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