El juego del calamar

The creator of Squid Game, Hwang Dong-hyuk, developed the show in 2009. However, it was rejected by media companies and actors for 10 years. Ironically, after Netflix picked it up and the show became a massive success, Hwang rejected Netflix' request for more episodes several times because he had only ever intended to make one season. However, making season 1 had given him some new ideas, so he agreed to make two more seasons; anything beyond that would be without his participation. At the end of season 3, writing and directing every episode himself as well as the show's dark subject matter had exhausted him so much that he half-jokingly said that he would retire to a uninhabited island, where Netflix could no longer bother him.

In the first episode, Gi-hun tries accessing his bank account and finds that his mother has changed the PIN after he tries inputting his usual password and it doesn't work. His usual password is his birthday, which we see is 0426 or April 26th. However, in the final scene of the last episode of the first season, he identifies himself on the phone with his name and birthday, which he gives as October 31st.

Featured in The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Sanjay Gupta/Denis Villeneueve (2021)