Can Squid Game Continue Without the Main Character?

One thing that's Asian that needs a raise right now is Jack's tank top. Jack's tank top needs a raise. If Netflix has to pay American prices for the Korean content, does that mean they'll still want it? Because it's part of the appeal, the fact that Netflix is getting a good deal. Yeah, we got to talk about it. This is going viral in a couple entertainment circles today. Joining us, we got Jack Liang. What up, what up? Long story short, Andrew, the Squid Game lead, Lee Jung Jae, is requesting $1 million per episode for Squid Game season two. Also, the Squid Game creator, Andrew, it came out that he gets no residuals despite the original series earning Netflix $900 million. And of course, Andrew, Netflix is investing over the next period of time, $2.5 billion in Korean content. That's 2.5 billion. Right, now we all know that Korean content is really good, but part of the reason why Netflix is so invested in the Korean content is because they get a really high return on investment because it's cheaper to make over there. I'm not saying it's dirt cheap, but it's a fraction of the cost. Yeah, I think we got to remember, right, these are, as much as they are content businesses and entertainment businesses, what's the key word? They're just businesses. They want to see ROI. Here, let me just give you some quick stats, Andrew. $58 million per episode for Lord of the Rings on Amazon. $15 million an episode for Game of Thrones. $2.4 million per episode of Squid Game season one. Which one do you think had the most ROI? I mean, it was definitely Squid Games, but now I can see the main character is asking for a million. That's quite a bit. Yeah, that's gonna up that $2.4 million per episode. But I would say Lee Jung Jae's request of a million from his original salary for season one, which was about 250K, that to me is not that big of a jump. Right, because it's just a 4X jump. That's 4X, which is like, it's more, it's a price jump, but it's like, I guess what they're probably afraid of is that it's gonna make all the other actors request a higher rate too. But I think he's one of the only returning actors. Honestly, he's one of two. Right, I think that Lee Jung Jae, I think maybe what they're afraid of on the Netflix side is this is just gonna up the price and lower the ROI equation for all Korean content moving forward for the next couple decades. Right, it's like if you give one employee a raise, everyone's gonna start asking for raises. Exactly, exactly. All right, let's get into the comments section. Oh, by the way, please hit that like button. Check out other episodes of the Hot Pop Boys as we get into these. Somebody said, so the star of the incredibly profitable show just wants a raise? That totally makes sense. The show can't really move forward without him. He has all the leverage. Yeah, I don't know if he has all the leverage because there's another comment that kind of explains this. He's like, well, the show made him a star and the show obviously incorporated a bunch of other people in it and you need the writers and the production and all of this. This guy, Lee Jung Jae is not quite like a Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise level type star, although he is a star. So no, he can't necessarily demand that much. What do you think? I think it has to do with like the Eastern perception with the Western perception. I'm not saying that Lee Jung Jae was at his peak in Korea, but he was a preexisting star. Like he had money and stuff, you know? Is he like the Brad Pitt equivalent in Korea? Oh man, to be honest, I heard it was like more like possibly like a Liam Neeson, you know what I mean? Like somebody who has had a great storied career, but it brought him back. But regardless, I think him asking a million per episode actually makes sense and I think it's fair for him to ask that. It's also like fair just to get it done if he takes like 600K, 750K an episode. I still think that that's more realistically of what they give him. But honestly, guys, you know, at the end of the season finale of Seinfeld, they were all making a million per episode or at least Seinfeld was. Oh, Seinfeld, that's a comedy. And this was like what, decades ago? Yeah, that was decades ago when a million then is probably like essentially 1.8 million now. And honestly, this goes to our discussion about valuing Asian talent, even though they're bringing in the ROI, are they gonna pay them like Western talent or are they gonna put Asians more in that? Like we're providing the value slot. I mean, with that 2.5 billion investment, I think they're gonna start getting paid. Yeah, people deserve it. But do you think, Jack, in your opinion, do you think like if you're an Asian creator or I guess like the movie maker in this sense, like you're still gonna take the lower deal for the business just because it's like business is growing and regardless if you're making that much, you're just like, yo, I just wanna keep the cashflow. Well, that little amount is still a lot in Korea or Asia or wherever it is, right? It's not compared to the US, it's compared to where they live. Right, you're saying everything is relative. And I think that, I hope that those, that profit distribution increase goes all the way down to like the gaffers and the PAs. Because as we all know, we've all been to Asia, we've all done some work in Asia. They definitely do not pay the lower level people that well. The cleaners, they don't have a union in Asia. I'll say one thing that's Asian that needs a raise right now is Jack's tank top. Jack's tank top needs a raise. As far as ownership of the IP goes, Andrew, a lot of people are like, man, just because he accepts the contract that he signed, it doesn't make it right. This kind of crap is why the Writers Guild Association is striking right now what happened to the Squid Game's creator or the writer of the initial series. They're saying he's getting screwed because he signed a contract with streaming where it gives him no points and no residuals despite it being a 20X, 100X success. And they're also saying because in the traditional industry like Hollywood, he would get residuals because streaming works differently than Hollywood. It has different rules. Right, than movies released in theaters, yeah. I guess, how are you guys' feelings on this? He signed a contract. Obviously, contracts are there for a reason, to protect usually the bigger dog. But I guess, how wrong is it? Because usually, bonus incentives are not really built into entertainment like that. Yeah, I mean, Hwang Jung-hyuk, I'm sorry for mispronouncing the name, he did come out and say, I have not been given any sort of like bonus. Like, I've only been paid what was in the contract. Is it right? Is it wrong? Is it just how we do things here? I'm sure in Korea, had he got that amount of profit, they would have broke him off like a little bit of just a goodwill bonus. But I guess in America, they were more sticking to the legality of it. I don't know what their negotiations are for season two and going forward, but he should definitely get something for those seasons, at least. Yeah, but it's true. I mean, the way it works here in America, the contracts are the contracts. And it's almost like you almost gotta sign it just to get the chance to blow up. Yeah, that's true. I mean, trust me, I mean, music artists signing unideal contracts is still prevalent to this day. Right, right, it's true. Somebody said, Squid Game season two is not even gonna work, man. Some things do not need sequels, man. It's almost like the Hangover franchise. The first one was great, but all the other Hangovers, they were just money grabs. Are you guys excited about Squid Game season two? Jack, me and you, we watched the whole series. I guess, are you? I am, I am. I'm gonna watch the whole thing. I got to, right? Like, I'm so invested in it. Do you think people are gonna watch it because they know they have to, just because the first one was so good and groundbreaking? But like, do you actually think it's gonna be like even, let's not say just as good, but even nine out of 10 as good? Oh, nine out of 10 as good? That's pretty high. I was thinking like five out of 10 as good. I was still gonna watch it. I think, though, with much higher budgets, they'll probably take it to be more stupendous outside of the game room, you know? The game's gonna be crazy. Yeah, yeah, the game's gonna be like, have different environments and maybe like a jungle inside of the box. Personally, I would have been okay if the series just ended here. I think season one- Right, because you're saying it went out on a high note. Yeah, it went out on a high note and it kind of made this crazy impact. It's almost like, you know, Psy's Gangnam Style, like his second song. Like, there was no way- Mother, father, gentlemen. Yeah, mother, father, gentlemen. Like, no one remembers that song. Yeah, I didn't know that song existed. I think I'm excited for it. You know, I think they're gonna take it to another place and I think it's really interesting that Asian content is finally getting this like marquee treatment. But I hope that where the Asian content differs from the Western content is that it's just not a cash money grab for the second, third, and fourth season. Like, they actually really dedicate themselves to making it at least equal in a different way. Right, I think Asians do have that standard and that quality in their work. So I think it will be really good. Yeah, I believe so. Somebody said, you know, as a white American, I'm not gonna lie, you could just remake the new season without any of the previous cast. I'm just not even gonna care because I was just there for the story. Because obviously, as an American, I'm watching it in another language. I don't really relate to the actors anyway. Oh, this is a good point because listen, a lot of Americans still watch Squid Game's dub. Not even with subtitles, they watched it dubbed in English. And I don't think they know Lee Jung Jae's name, to be honest. No, no, I don't think they know a lot of any of the actors' names. They just were watching a piece that was so crazy to them and they're not invested into the character or the personality himself. So I guess, that's true. I could see their point, you know? They might not even be Korean. They could be, like, Chinese. They wouldn't even know. Oh, yeah, no. To be honest, obviously, there's different segments within the non-Asian population, but probably a sizable chunk. I don't know what percentage fall into that category. Anyway, guys, let's get into our takeaways. Is it gonna be a situation where Korean content is almost like Japanese cars in the 80s and 90s? If you guys have studied, when Japanese cars, and obviously, nowadays, in more of the 2000s, Korean cars entered the market, Andrew, they were a better value than German and American cars, but I don't know if people put them on the same level, certainly, as German cars. But they were always, people buy more Hondas and Toyotas than any other car in America, but I don't know if they value it the same. They value it because of the price-to-quality ratio. Yeah, because the mileage that you could get out of a Toyota, the utility from a Toyota was way higher per dollar than a BMW. The reliability. Yeah, BMWs are really fun cars and really nice cars, but you also have to take them to the shop often. They cost much more when you first buy them, of course. Game of Thrones. Harder to fix, yeah. BMW is kind of like Game of Thrones, and then Squid Game is kind of like Toyotas or Kias now, and Hyundais, so I guess. But we don't say that in a bad way. I'm not saying that a bad way. No, all right. Even though on a car channel. You're saying it in a value way. No, no, no, to be fair, Squid Games was at least like the Hyundai Genesis, all right? It's like the Genesis series. It's like the top level one. Or the iconic IONIQ 6. Right, but Netflix partially does love it partially because of the strong ROI. That's right. And over the years, Lexus sales, which is Toyota's premium line, that has begun to lag over the past five years of sales. So it kind of goes to show you, I wonder how much will Western people value Korean content? Do they value it at its price point, or do they just value it just flat out altogether? All right, here. You guys want to hear my hot take? Until there is a bona fide Western star from Korea that makes it in America, as in- You're saying a household name. As in their name is being known and being able to be remembered by Americans, I think that's when you start to see that shift. But until then, for now, it's kind of like a really good deal for Americans. But I will say this, some K-pop stars like BTS, Blackpink, musically they are on that level where they're kind of getting a little bit more respect. Like in general, they just are respected. They actually, some artists make more money performing in Asia than they do in the U.S. Yeah? I could see that. Andrew, what kind of comment do you have on just global capitalism in general from this? Do you think that as something generates a lot more global revenues, that the revenues need to be split sort of down the chain of command, all the way down to the bottom people? Like there needs to be some sort of trickle down. Yeah, but it's capitalism, even in America, like let's take it out of the globe. Most companies, they just only want to pay the least amount that they can to get the job done and retain the employees. It's true. You don't want employees leaving all at once because that's going to cost you a lot of money to rehire and time and train. You're saying you want to find where their threshold is in any sort of capitalism and just provide one notch above that. Yeah, any business is doing that, actually. That's just how most business is done if you're trying to maximize profit. So I think, unfortunately, global capitalism, I mean, but yeah, I think this is just wave one of the Korean Netflix wave, you know, the last four years. So I think that in the next five years, you're right, Jack, that they're going to get paid more and I'm looking forward to it. So that's. They might have competitors, HBO, Hulu. They might come into play and be like, oh, Netflix is putting 2.5 billion. We might need to come in with our own money. Yeah, and you know what I hope? I hope that as long as the Korean content or just Asian content in general stays profitable, they can pay more people to the actors, to the writers, to the producers all the way down the line. And those ROI equations might not look like as superstar as they were, like great, great. But as long as they look good, I think the Western companies will still go, well, this was still a good investment. Yeah, it's still worth it. Yeah. And you're right. I don't think like Korean content always has to be this almost like dollar dumpling version of of of content, you know, where Chinatown cheap eats. It's like you're just getting an incredible deal. But I thought the Asians always known for value, right? Well, I think they're changing. I do think it is in Asians to care about value. I think deep down Asians know that's like the right thing to do. But anyways, I will say this, guys. Have you seen the recent NBA contracts of some of the free agents that just signed? Right, guys. So I'm just saying this is capitalism right now. You got Desmond Baines. Desmond Baines making signed a two hundred and seven million dollar contract. Desmond Baines from, you know, that is grizzly from the Grizzlies. But the short house will name two. That's crazy. A shout out to Tyrese Halliburton. 260 is is a lot for Tyrese Halliburton. I'm not mad that the NBA players are making enough. It doesn't take any money out of my pocket, but I'm just saying this is capitalism here. So they make a bunch of money. They're making more than like the entire WNBA times three. A shout out to Lee Jung Jae. You know, shout out to young hook and man, go get your money. All right, everybody. Yo, Jack, thanks for being here with us. And until next time, everybody, we out. Peace.