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Netflix's US Squid Game spin-off is dead, per reports

David Fincher's long-rumored US version of Squid Game has apparently been axed by Netflix.

Squid Game season 3 screenshot
Image credit: Netflix

No one takes hit shows from other countries and makes them bigger and louder than America, and, for the past few years, David Fincher has been trying to get his US version of Squid Game off the ground. It seemed like the pieces were all in place when Cate Blanchett showed up at the end of the final episode of the Korean version of the Netflix hit. However, it is now being reported that the long-rumored spin-off of Squid Game won’t be going ahead.

Of all the proposed American versions of hit international shows, an American Squid Game probably makes the most sense. Moreso than that horrifying reality TV show, at least. It is a show that relies heavily on a setting with rampant inequality and a lack of a social safety net that have driven people to take desperate measures. David Fincher, who had been attached to direct Squid Game’s American spin-off, has never been one to shy away from these kinds of themes in his movies like Alien 3 or The Social Network or his work on House of Cards for Netflix.

While Netflix hasn’t officially announced that they are cancelling the US version of Squid Game, which reportedly had a working title of Heckler, it has recently been reported that they’re pulling the plug on whatever David Fincher had been working on. Fincher is currently working on The Adventures of Cliff Booth, a Netflix follow-up to Quintin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which may be the reason why the streamer is pulling the plug on his Squid Game spin-off; they need to move forward with their new version before the series fades from the pop culture zeitgeist. 

Should you find yourself missing the deadly games of chance and skill even more knowing that no U.S. edition is arriving anytime soon, remember that all three seasons of the original remain available on Netflix.


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Trent Cannon

Trent Cannon: Trent is a freelance writer who has been covering anime, video games, and pop culture for a decade. (He/Him)

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