U.S. spinoff of 'Squid Game' eliminated?
A reported shift in Netflix’s franchise strategy appears to have shelved David Fincher’s long-developing English-language expansion of the Korean hit.
Poster of Netflix series Squid Game's (2021-25) first season in 2021
NETFLIX
U.S. spinoff of Netflix’s dystopian hit “Squid Game” (2021-25) appears unlikely to be produced, according to a report by The Playlist.
“Netflix is no longer moving forward with 'Heckler,' the working title for Fincher’s long-developing English-language spinoff of the Korean phenomenon,” the Playlist reported on Thursday.
The project was planned to be directed by David Fincher, the filmmaker behind “Fight Club” (1999), “Zodiac” (2007) and “Gone Girl” (2014). The script was purported to be written by Dennis Kelly, the writer of the British series “Utopia” (2013-14).
The U.S. spinoff production seemed likely as Cate Blanchett appeared in the finale moments of the last season of the original as a recruiter in Los Angeles.
"But after years in development and various executive changes at the streamer, the sources believe Netflix’s priorities for the franchise have shifted,” the Playlist reported, referring to information sourced from insiders.
The outlet also noted that the platform seemingly places greater interest in content “tailored to individual international markets."
Squid Game has become one of the streaming platform's most successful series worldwide, with its first season reaching over 111 million views within four weeks of its release in September 2021. It became the platform’s most watched series launch ever at the time. Its second season also tallied 132 million viewing hours in its first week of release and maintained the No. 1 position on Netflix’s Global Top 10 for three consecutive weeks.
BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
