A New Squid Game Series Is Coming To Netflix From One Of Our Best Working Directors
Netflix is all in on the "Squid Game" phenomenon. After the original series, created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, became a global phenomenon and introduced a new generation (as well as people who don't normally watch things with subtitles) to the death game genre, Netflix decided to get on board the franchise train. Not only is season 2 fast approaching (with a third and final season recently announced), but there's also that horrendously misguided reality game show "Squid Game: The Challenge" which is getting a second season. Now, there's yet another "Squid Game" title on the way, with "Fight Club" and "Gone Girl" director David Fincher involved.
According to a new report by Deadline, Fincher is developing a new "Squid Game" project, rumored to be a TV series rather than a movie. Though details are virtually non-existent on what exactly this show will be, it is reported that the show is likely to be set in the United States. Additionally, rumor has it this will not be a remake, but a new English-language TV series set in the same universe as Hwang Dong-hyuk's original Korean-language series. This would be Fincher's first project since his assassin thriller "The Killer" last year.
David Fincher making an English-language Squid Game series makes sense
Fincher making a "Squid Game" project for Netflix might be shocking, but it makes a lot of sense. Not only does Fincher have a developing deal at the streamer — after all, Netflix is the house that Fincher built thanks to "House of Cards," even if everyone wants to erase that show from memory — but "Squid Game" also shares some thematic similarities with Fincher's work. Specifically, with its dark tone and game mechanics, it kind of resembles Fincher's underrated 1997 thriller "The Game," which stars Michael Douglas and Sean Penn. That movie deals with a man becoming an unwitting participant in a game that escalates to terrifying and possibly deadly levels.
Indeed, "Squid Game" has enough of a thriller vibe, and enough social commentary about class, capitalism, and entertainment, that it shouldn't really be a surprise that Fincher would be interested in playing with this universe. What is surprising, however, is that he'd want to play in someone else's sandbox rather than work on his own titles. Then again, in the era of IP-driven Hollywood, the possibility that even Fincher has to work on a big franchise just to get something made is scarier than anything in "Squid Game."
We don't know when or even if Fincher's "Squid Game" project will see the light of day, but a big question now is whether they'll take the opportunity to title it "Round Six."