Squid Game Star Bashes Star Wars
Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae is starring in Star Wars: Acolyte, but in comparing the two experiences, he has an issue with how Star Wars is filmed.
Bashing star wars has been a favorite American pastime since The Phantom Menace debuted in 1999, but now it seems like Korea is getting in on the action. However, instead of mocking the poor storytelling, dialogue, and characterization of some later movies, the Bashing seems to be focused on the way the series is filmed. The Direct reports that Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae, who will appear in the upcoming Star Wars series The Acolyte, thinks that the series is being filmed less efficiently than how series are filmed in Korea.
Lee Jung-jae stated that filming of The Acolyte will last until March or April. The series began filming in November 2022, meaning that the series will take four to five months to complete. Since Squid Game reportedly took seven months to complete filming, it’s unclear how exactly he believes that filming in the U.S. is less efficient than filming in Korea.
In Squid Game, Lee Jung-jae played the protagonist Seong Gi-hun, a broke Korean gambling addict whose only hope for paying off loan sharks was to participate in a deadly underground competition known as the Squid Games. Over the course of six rounds, players had to compete in six children’s games, including Red Light Green Light, Tug of War, and Marbles — with the losers suffering deadly consequences. Seong Gi-hun won the competition and appeared dedicated to fighting the game’s organizers at the end of the first season.
While not much is known about The Acolyte, we do know that it will take place in the so-called High Republic era — a time before the prequel films when the galaxy was, for the most part, at peace. We don’t know how big of a role Lee Jung-jae will play in the series. We do, however, know that Amandla Stenberg, who is best known for playing Rue in The Hunger Games and Starr Carter in The Hate U Give, will be the series’ star.
Usually, Star Wars only uses the term “Acolyte” to refer to a member of the Sith — a religious group of dark-side users who are often in opposition to The Jedi. It’s entirely likely that the story will focus on a Sith acolyte, perhaps played by Amandla Stenberg. Lee Jung-jae will be the male lead, meaning he might just be a member of the Sith as well.
Joining Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae will be The Matrix star Carrie-Anne Moss, His Dark Materials star Dafne Keen, The Good Place actor Manny Jacinto, and Queen & Slim star Jodie Turner-Smith. Director Leslye Headland says that the series will be female-centric, though it remains to be seen what exactly that entails.
Meanwhile, Season 2 of Squid Game is set to begin filming this summer. Lee Jung-jae stated that the second season will be bigger in scope, and filming will take about 10 months. That’s longer than The Acolyte will take to film, but presumably, it’ll be a more efficient 10 months compared to The Acolyte’s five months.
No release date for Season 2 of Squid Game has been confirmed, but you will be able to see Lee Jung-jae in The Acolyte this summer.
