Netflix announced on September 2 that it will produce a new original Korean series titled Round Six, which will be directed by movie director Hwang Dong-hyuk of award-winning films Silenced (2011) and The Fortress (2017).
Round Six tells the story of unsuccessful people who receive a mysterious invitation to participate in a survival game to win US$10 million. The participants of the game are sent to an unknown location where they are locked up until a final winner is declared.
The story of the series will incorporate popular children’s games in Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, including the squid game—”a type of tag where offense and defense use a squid-shaped board drawn in the dirt.”
Hwang Dong-hyuk made his feature film debut in 2007 with My Father, which starred Kim Yeong-cheol and Daniel Henney. He has since written and directed three films—the Gong Yoo starrer Silenced (2011), Miss Granny (2014), and the Lee Byung-hun led The Fortress (2017) which won several prestigious awards, including best film at the 2018 Baeksang Arts Awards and best screenplay at the 2017 Blue Dragon Film Awards.
The director will be making his series directorial debut with Round Six.
Round Six is the latest original Korean drama announced by Netflix. The global entertainment company has been stepping up its original Korean content since 2017 when it first announced its plan to produce its “original” Korean dramas. It achieved a milestone early this year when it finally released Kingdom, which is considered as its “first original Korean series.” The 6-episode zombie thriller was followed by the release of two seasons of My First First Love and the first season of Love Alarm.
There are now at least five upcoming original Netflix Korean dramas, including Round Six, Extracurricular, Me Alone And You, School Nurse Ahn Eun-young, and Kingdom Season 2.