'Squid Game' accused of plagiarism two months before release of season 2

Two months before the grand reveal of the second season of "Squid Game," an Indian director filed a lawsuit against Netflix at the U.S. federal court for allegedly copying his 2009 film, "Luck," according to a Bloomberg report on Saturday.

A still from Netflix original series ″Squid Game″ (2021) [NETFLIX]

Two months before the grand reveal of the second season of "Squid Game," an Indian director filed a lawsuit against Netflix at the U.S. federal court for allegedly copying his 2009 film, "Luck," according to a Bloomberg report on Saturday.

According to the report, Indian filmmaker Soham Shah filed a suit to the federal court in New York on Friday, calling "Squid Game" a "blatant rip-off" of his own Hindi film. "Luck" revolves around the story of a "group of desperate, indebted people enticed to take part in a series of competitive games to win large sums of money" and face death if they lose the game.

Shah is "seeking unspecified damages and an injunction preventing Netflix from infringing his copyrights by marketing and streaming 'Squid Game,'" according to the report.

“The main plot, characters, themes, mood, setting and sequence of events of 'Squid Game' are strikingly similar to that of Luck, defying any likelihood that such similarities could be coincidence,” Shah said, according to Bloomberg.

Lee Jung-jae, winner of the Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a drama series for "Squid Game," left, and Hwang Dong-hyuk, winner of the Emmy for outstanding directing for a drama series for "Squid Game" at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 12, 2022 in Los Angeles. [AP/YONHAP]

"Squid Game," Netflix's biggest hit of 2022 that became the first foreign-language series to sweep the Emmy Awards, also takes place around a group of people desperately fighting for money and risking death as penalty.

Netflix shot down the accusation and vowed to "defend this matter vigorously."

“This claim has no merit,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement quoted by Bloomberg. “Squid Game was created by and written by Hwang Dong-hyuk and we intend to defend this matter vigorously.”

The second season of "Squid Game" is set for release on Dec. 26.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]