Squid Game creator’s new movie sounds even more disturbing than the Netflix series
by
Tomasz David
Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has hinted that his upcoming project, a movie called Killing Old People Club, won’t be one for the squeamish.
"It will be more violent than Squid Game ," the director revealed in a recent interview with Variety , adding that the feature is sure to be “another controversial film.”
We know that Killing Old People Club is based on an unnamed novel by Italian novelist and philosopher Umberto Eco, though details surrounding its plot remain under wraps for now. Eco, who died in 2016, was known for producing works with a focus on philosophy and religion – so there’s a good chance these themes could play into Hwang’s secretive project.
In our book, though, it’s equally likely that the Miss Granny and The Fortress director may have simply written a stylish screenplay about young people killing old people.
Blood-soaked slasher flicks have experienced something of a resurgence of late, with Texas Chainsaw Massacre and All of Us Are Dead among the genre’s most recent examples, and Hwang’s assertion that his upcoming movie will be even more violent than Squid Game forebodes an equally gruesome picture.
A film of that ilk wouldn’t appear totally alien to Korean audiences, either. The likes of Oldboy, Train to Busan and The Handmaiden have proven their willingness (and Korean directors' tendency) to embrace the graphic, so it’s a sure bet that Hwang will continue the trend with Killing Old People Club.
Variety reports that he's now submitted a 25-page treatment for the highly-anticipated project, but it’s not likely to hit screens until 2023, at the earliest.
The hit Netflix series took the world by storm in 2021, inspiring everything from real-life robot dolls to amateur video game adaptations on its way to becoming the biggest show in the streamer’s history (after just 28 days, Squid Game racked up an unprecedented 1.6 billion viewing hours ).
In doing so, the survival series also quite literally changed the game for how Netflix measures the success of its movies and TV shows. Following Squid Game’s popularity, the streaming service shifted away from the two-minute-per-view metric it had previously used to instead record the total hours watched within a title’s first month of release.
As a result, it’s now much easier for fans to see the biggest Netflix series (and the biggest Netflix movies ) in any given week – though no project has yet threatened Squid Game’s crown.
Squid Game season 2 was officially renewed by Netflix in January 2021, when co-CEO Ted Sarandos was quoted as saying that "the Squid Game universe has just begun." We knew director Hwang was working on a movie project (which we now know to be Killing Old People Club) at the time, so it isn’t too much of a surprise to hear that new Squid Game episodes won’t be arriving for some time.
To ease the wait, check out our breakdown of the Squid Game ending , which poses big questions about what to expect from the show’s second season.
If you hate clutter around your home but you crave the immersive sound of a hi-fi setup, Q Acoustics may have the answer with its new installed audio system - and it's cheaper than buying a similar setup from Sonos.
The Q Acoustics E120 can be wall-mounted, and brings a display and control center to your existing speakers - or, if you want to complete hide your hi-fi system, it can be paired with the company's in-ceiling or in-wall speakers.
Once you've installed the E120 into your wall, you'll be able to wirelessly stream music via Bluetooth from your smartphone , tablet , or laptop . It also comes with DAB+ or FM radio, with five preset buttons allowing you to play your favorite station with a single tap.
Inside the E120 is a class D stereo amplifier, which has been optimized for Q Acoustics' in-ceiling and in-wall speakers, with the ability to pair with two or four devices. However, you could use the system with any pair of passive speakers, whether you want stereo or mono sound. The speakers themselves will need to be physically wired to the control system, but all the cables can run inside your walls for minimal mess.
You can also hook the E120 up to your TV , for what Q Acoustics describes as a "more immersive and dynamic" movie watching experience. A rear analogue audio output means you can plug it into a subwoofer for rumbling bass, an external power amplifier, or even another E120 system.
The E120's wall panel comes in black and white, so you should be able to find a design that fits in with your decor. Touch sensitive controls and a 3.2-inch color display show the track, artist, and album name when you're playing music, and an internal light sensor allows the screen to automatically adjust the brightness based on ambient light levels.
If you want to place the E120 in your bedroom, you can manually set the display to dim when you sleep, and an alarm function means it can double up as a bedside clock. And, thanks to an IP54 water resistance rating, you'll be able to place the E120 in your kitchen or bathroom without needing to worry about humidity or a splash of water breaking it. A splashproof remote control is also supplied, so you won't need to drag yourself out of the bath to adjust the volume.
A cheaper alternative to Sonos
A custom install can be an expensive prospect for audiophiles that want to hide their hi-fi system, but the E120 is an affordable option compared to the competition.
If you already have passive stereo speakers at home, you can buy the E120 for £429 when it launches at the end of April (US and Australian pricing is still TBC, but that works out at around $560 / AU$750).
However, Q Acoustics is offering some neat bundles to kick-start your hi-fi system. The E120 and a stereo pair of Qi65CB in-ceiling speakers for most indoor applications will set you back £499 (about $650 / AU$870), while the E120 and a stereo pair of Qi65CW Weatherproof 6.5-inch in-ceiling speakers for showers, bathrooms and verandas will cost £649 (about $850 / AU$1,130).
For comparison, a pair of in-ceiling Sonos speakers cost $659 / £599 / AU$999 alone, and you don't get a slick control hub to go with them.
Dune: Spice Wars, the next video game to be set in Frank Herbert’s classic Dune Universe, will release for early access on PC later this month.
The strategy game, which combines real-time base-building and 4X mechanics, is being developed by Northgard studio Shiro Games and will hit Steam with an early build on April 26. This early access period will initially only include single-player skirmishes, with multiplayer coming later.
Publisher Funcom Games has also confirmed that the fourth and final faction in the game will be the Fremen – the native peoples of the titular planet – who join House Harkonnen, House Atreides, and The Smugglers.
Dune: Spice Wars pits the four factions against each other for control of Arrakis and its coveted Spice Melange. You’ll be building your military power, expanding your political influence, infiltrating your enemies, and overseeing resource production to take hold of the planet.
Each faction has particular strengths and weaknesses, with the Fremen pitched as a flexible army than can endure Arrakis’s harsh environment. They can traverse vast distances quicker than other factions by riding sandworms, and need to resupply less often. You’ll be able to use invisible Infiltrators to stealthily attack enemies, Fedaykin for guerrilla warfare, and Kulon Caravans to hide allied troops.
If you’ve seen Denis Villeneuve’s recent Dune film adaptation, or read Frank Herbert’s acclaimed novel, you’ll also recognize a bunch of characters among its ranks, including Chani Kynes, Stilgar Ben Fifrawi, and Liet Kynes.
The Dune universe is no stranger to video games. Cryo Interactive’s 1992 Dune real-time strategy game was an ambitious title that borrowed ideas from point-and-click adventure games like The Secret of Monkey Island. We reckon it successfully showed there was a future for the IP in the world of video games.
Leave a Comment