'Squid Game 3' Announces Release Date, Netflix Reveals First Look At Rapidly Approaching Season
Squid Game fans won't have to wait much longer for the show's season final. Netflix has announced the premiere date for the third and final season of the popular South Korean drama.
Squid Game 3 will premiere June 27, following the Season 2 cliffhanger that had viewers biting their nails.
Season 2, which contained seven episodes, debuted just weeks ago on December 26.
Squid Game director and creator Hwang Dong Hyuk revealed to IndieWire that Season 2 and 3 of the show were filmed at the same time, allowing for a speedy turnaround when it comes to releases.
Initially, when Hwang had pitched the show to the network, he revealed that he'd never intended for it to be an ongoing series.
Following the show's immense popularity, however, the network demanded more seasons from Hwang, leading to pivots in plot he'd never expected to produce.
"I wrote Seasons 2 and 3 at the same time... and along the storyline, there is a turning point that takes place, and that leads to a series of different events, and also leads to a significant change in the character," Hwang said to IndieWire.
"Relatively speaking, the ending for Season 2 came to me quite early on. However, the ending to Season 3, actually ended up [in] a different direction than what I had initially conceived of.
"While I was working on the story and working on the script, I saw this new path that I wanted to go down, and so the ending of Season 3 actually changed in the process of creating Season 2.
In Season 2, Gi-hun, or Player 456 (Lee Jung Jae), returns to the deadly competition three years after winning 45.6 billion won as the sole survivor of the event, with the goal to end the Squid Games and save all the players involved.
Lee continues his role in Season 2, alongside cast members Wi Ha Jun as Jun Ho and Lee Byung Hun as the mysterious Front Man and a line-up of new stars, including T.O.P and Jo Yuri.
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Season 1 of the series quickly became the most-watched show in Netflix history and was subsequently nominated for 17 Emmys, taking home six, including Best Actor in a Drama for Lee and another for Best Guest Actress in a Drama for Lee You Mi.
See Netflix's first-look images from Squid Game 3 below.
--Originally appeared on 'KDrama Stars.'
