The cinema-centric website Indie Wire on March 21 said director Steven Spielberg hailed the Korean Netflix TV series "Squid Game" for drastically changing the star-based casting system of Hollywood. (Screen capture from Indie Wire)

By Lee Jihae

Director Steven Spielberg has hailed the Korean Netflix TV series "Squid Game" for substantially changing Hollywood's film production system, which is focused on A-list American actors.

The cinema website Indie Wire on March 21 quoted Spielberg as saying this in the article headlined "Steven Spielberg praises 'Squid Game,' says show 'changes the math entirely' for casting." 

He made the comment on March 19 in Los Angeles at the awards ceremony of the Producers Guild of America.

"'Squid Game' comes along and changes the math entirely for all of us," he said. 

"A long time ago, it was domestic stars that brought the audience into movies," he added. "Today, it's interesting, unknown people [who] can star in entire miniseries, can be in movies."

Starring actors Lee Jung-jae and Jung Ho-yeon, "Squid Game" is about competitors in survival games risking their lives to win KRW 45.6 billion. Since its release on Sept. 17 last year, the series posted 1.65 billion streaming hours within its first four weeks to become the most watched TV drama in Netflix history.

jihlee08@korea.kr