David Fincher is developing an American version of Squid Game
David Fincher is in development on an American, English-language version of the runaway Korean hit Squid Game.
Rumours of a Fincher-Squid Game tie-up have persisted for some time but it was previously to be a movie. Now, that looks to morphed into a series. The news first emerged on industry “insider” Daniel Richtman’s Patreon last week but Deadline has now firmed it up with several sources.
Fincher, the director of Seven, The Social Network and Fight Club, is said to be making the series for Netflix. There are few details of what an American iteration of Squid Game would look like but given the increasing wealth gap in the US, there are many ways that story could play out.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, Squid Game was an instant sensation when it premiered in September 2021. A marriage of compulsive and wild plot twists, popping visuals and a strident critique of late-stage capitalism, the series remains Netflix’s most streamed original series.
According to Netflix metrics, Squid Game clocked up 1.65 billion hours watched in the first 28 days after its release.
The story is centred on a man who is recruited into an underground competition based on children’s games. There are 456 contestants, all desperate debtors, vying for a massive cash prize. If you win, you take home roughly $50 million. If you lose, you die. There can only be one victor.
After a three-year break, the long-awaited second season will debut on December 26, and will follow Player 456 (Lee Jung-jae) as he seeks to hunt down and expose the sadistic puppet masters behind the game.
A third season will follow in 2025 and is already confirmed to be the final instalment.
The show spawned a reality format, Squid Game: The Challenge, which recreated the series’ competition with real people duking it out for $US4.56 million. It rather missed the point of the original show.
While it wasn’t life or death stakes, several contestants accused the producers of unsafe conditions including near-freezing temperatures which allegedly resulted in ambulances and medics being called. The were also accusations of competition rigging to favour certain players.
Fincher has had a long relationship with Netflix, stretching back to when the filmmaker helped the streamer make its second-ever original series, House of Cards. Fincher directed its first two episodes, establishing the look and tone of the political thriller, and remained an executive producer.
He then went onto to make the highly regarded psychological crime show, Mindhunter, animated series Love, Death & Robots and two films, Mank and The Killer.
