Squid Game Faces Plagiarism Controversy As People Claim It Is A Ripoff Of Japanese Horror Film ‘As The Gods Will’ ( Photo Credit – IMDb )
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Hwang Dong-hyuk’s Squid Game, released on Netflix, has been making the news as it has become immensely popular. However, as per the new reports, there are claims of the show being plagiarized. The show revolves around the classic tale of class differences, where a large group of people in grave debt are recruited by super-rich people, who make them play six children games in order to earn hefty cash. However, there is a massive life-and-death twist in the story.
As morbid as it sounds, the South Korean show started to trend on Netflix and has become one of the most-watched series in a short span of time. It stars HoYeon Jung, Park Hae Soo, Lee Jung-jae, Anupam Tripathi, Gong Yoo and many more actors.
Though there has been a lot of praise around Squid Game, new claims suggest that it might be a ripoff of a Japanese horror film, As the Gods Will. It is not the first time that a story has been built around a dystopian society where people are made to play survival games. Battle Royale, The Hunger Games, and The Running Man are a few of such examples. However, it is being said that Squid Game has a shocking resemblance to the Japanese film.
Directed by Takashi Miike, As the Gods Will revolves around a bunch of high schoolers who are made to play a game of death. Even these students have no idea who is the mastermind behind the game, forcing them to play. It stars Bleach actor Sota Fukushi, Hirona Yamazaki and many more actors. Other than the concept being similar, many other things have led to people assume that Squid Game has copied the idea that the first game played in As the Gods Will is a variation to the ‘Red Light, Green Light’ game played in the show.
People are even claiming that a lot of shots are similar in both the show and the film. However, the director of the show has been making it since 2009, and it took almost a decade for it to be accepted by a production company. Whereas As the Gods Will came out in 2014.
As per the reports, Dong-hyuk has denied the plagiarism allegations based on this. “‘It’s not really something that I wanna do, to claim ownership of this story. But if I had to say it, I would say I did it first,” he said.
Creating a story that required inspiration from others, Squid Game might not be a ripoff. However, it might have taken references from other such stories. What are your thoughts on the same?
