‘Squid Game’ creator says he lost nine teeth from stress making original hit
Hwang directing Lee for Season 1 – Netflix
Some people would metaphorically give their teeth to launch a hit TV show, but for Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, it was literal.
He clarified to the BBC that he was under so much stress making the original series, which became a global phenomenon, that he lost “eight or nine” teeth. He’d previously said six of his teeth fell out.
In preparation for the anticipated follow-up to the show, which is due on Netflix on Dec. 25, Hwang said, “The stress I feel now is much greater,” adding of his chompers that he’ll “probably have to pull out a few more very soon.”
That said, the Emmy-winning show’s creator said much like his show’s contestants, he pursued a second season for the jackpot.
“Even though the first series was such a huge global success, honestly I didn’t make much,” he tells the outlet. “So doing the second series will help compensate me for the success of the first one too.”
That said, he explained he “didn’t fully finish the story” of the first season’s winner, Lee Jung-jae‘s Seong Gi-hun aka Player 456. For the forthcoming go-round, Gi-hun takes on the life-or-death game once again, with vengeance on his mind for the people behind it.
A New Mexico judge has declined to reconsider criminal charges against Alec Baldwin over the fatal shooting on the set of Rust in October 2021.
“Because the State’s Amended Motion raises arguments previously made, and arguments that the State elected not to raise earlier, the Court does not find the Amended Motion well taken,” the decision said.
The court dismissed the state’s application to reinstate involuntary manslaughter charges that were thrown out in July after it was learned during trial that prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense, namely ammunition brought to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
Baldwin’s attorneys claimed live ammunition that came into the hands of local law enforcement related to the investigation was “concealed” from them.
The judge in the trial, Mary Marlowe Sommer, said the state’s discovery violation regarding the late disclosure of a supplemental report on the ammunition evidence “injected needless delay into the proceedings,” approached “bad faith” and was “highly prejudicial to the defendant.”
Marlowe Sommer also issued the new ruling on Friday saying the charges would not be reconsidered for Baldwin.
“State does not raise any factual or legal arguments that would justify the grant of a motion to reconsider,” she wrote in the opinion.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed on Oct. 21, 2021, when she was shot by Baldwin while he was practicing using a Colt .45 revolver. The prop gun, which Baldwin believed to contain dummy rounds, actually had a live round of ammunition in it. Director Joel Souza was also struck in the shooting, but recovered from his injuries.
Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in connection with Hutchins’ death in March. Prosecutors argued during the trial she was the source of the live bullet and had failed to follow safety protocols meant to protect the crew while handling the firearms.
Gutierrez is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence, the maximum for the offense.
Last month, Marlowe Sommer denied a motion from Gutierrez’s attorneys arguing she was entitled to a new trial or dismissal of the case for “egregious prosecutorial misconduct” and “severe and ongoing discovery violations by the State,” related to the same evidence that resulted in Baldwin’s trial being dismissed.
Marlowe Sommer also denied a separate motion from the defense seeking immediate release from detention.
The judge ruled the issues raised by the defense did not justify a new trial or dismissal, and that the state did not suppress the ammunition evidence in Gutierrez’s trial that was at the heart of Baldwin’s dismissal.
Quincy Jones, a longtime music industry powerhouse and hitmaking producer of multi-platinum albums, including Michael Jackson‘s Thriller, the best-selling album of all time, died on Sunday. He was 91.
His death was announced by his publicist, Arnold Robinson, who said Jones died at his home in Bel Air, California. Jones was surrounded by his family, including his children and siblings, at the time of his death, the announcement said.
“And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him,” the family said in a statement.
During his decades-long career, Jones was nominated for 80 Grammy Awards, of which he won 28. He was the all-time most-nominated composer and producer, his publicist said on Monday.
His was a career punctuated often by chart-topping hits, many of which were also critical successes. He produced albums for Michael Jackson, including Off the Wall, Bad and Thriller, which ranks as the best-selling album of all time.
Quincy was a seasoned producer by the time Thriller came out in 1982. He had won his first Grammy in 1963 for an arrangement of “I Can’t Stop Loving You” by Count Basie.
He then partnered with Frank Sinatra for Sinatra at the Sands, an album that included “Fly Me to the Moon.” Jones’ publicist noted on Monday that that version of the song was the “the first recording played by astronaut Buzz Aldrin when he landed upon the moon’s surface in 1969.”
He also produced and conducted “We Are the World,” which brought together pop luminaries of all ages and became the best-selling single of all time.
Jones was often referred to as entertainment royalty — and it would be difficult to overstate the breadth of his career or the depth of his influence on popular culture. He had begun his career as a composer and become a music producer. And he would eventually also make his mark on Hollywood.
He was a co-producer with Steven Spielberg on The Color Purple, a 1985 film staring Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg. That film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including two nominations for Jones’ original song and score.
He also served as executive producer on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, the TV series staring Will Smith that premiered in 1990. Jones also founded VIBE Magazine in 1991.
Jones’ family said on Monday that Jones was “truly one of a kind,” adding that “we take comfort and immense pride in knowing that the love and joy, that were the essence of his being, was shared with the world through all that he created.”
They added, “Through his music and his boundless love, Quincy Jones’ heart will beat for eternity.”
Disney announced Monday that its smash sequel Inside Out 2 attracted 30.5 million views globally in its first five days on Disney+.
That makes the Disney/Pixar movie, which has become the highest-grossing animated film of all time, the biggest premiere on Disney+ since 2021’s Encanto debuted on the platform.
With streaming audiences in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Inside Out 2 had Disney+’s biggest debut ever.
Released in theaters June 14, Inside Out 2 is also the highest-grossing movie of the year.
