Korea’s Squid Game TV series may be over, but that doesn’t mean the violent games have disappeared for good. Instead, it looks likely that they will move to the United States.
Netflix launched the third and final season of the original Squid Game on 27 June 2027. The story of Gi-hun has come to an end, but the streaming giant has been heavily rumoured to expand the universe by creating another tale about people struggling for big money in a series of gory challenges. Squid Game is one of Netflix’s biggest hits. Thus, it’s no surprise that the platform wants to capitalise on viewer interest, especially since another huge original series, Stranger Things, is ending this year.
But what could the English-speaking version of Squid Game be about, and who will create it? Here’s everything we know about the new Netflix series.
Who will create Squid Game: America?
According to information provided by TV series scooper Jeff Sneider in April 2023, Netflix wants David Fincher to shape US version of Squid Game. Fincher is famous for directing bloody, complex thrillers that use the tropes of games and competition. His filmography includes classics such as Seven, The Game, Fight Club, and Zodiac.
David Fincher also has experience with TV series. He co-executive-produced House of Cards and directed a few episodes for the show. Between 2017 and 2019, he created two seasons of Mindhunter, an acclaimed series about FBI agents investigating the phenomenon of serial killers. Interestingly, there have been rumours that the director and Netflix are planning to create a third season of the show.
Picking Fincher to be the showrunner for the English-language Squid Game seems to be a great move, and could draw the attention of even the most sceptical viewers.
According to the latest rumours provided by The Playlist, Fincher has been working on the Squid Game spin-off for two years now and has even chosen the series’ screenwriter. It is supposed to be Dennis Kelly, a British writer and producer whom you may know as the creator of the Channel 4 dystopian series Utopia.
Those who have watched this bloody and disturbing thriller will surely consider Kelly as a great choice. If the US version of Squid Game has even a hint of Utopia’s dark vibe, it will surely be a success.
Is there a release date for Squid Game: America?
For now, Netflix has kept the American spin-off of Squid Game on the down-low – we don’t even have an official announcement yet. However, rumours suggest that work on the script is underway. Nonetheless, it’s hard to predict a release date with so little information.
It is worth noting that David Fincher is an extremely busy creator. He recently finished writing Chinatown, a prequel TV series to Roman Polanski’s 1974 thriller. Fincher is also working on a sequel to Once Upon a Time in America, which he inherited from Quentin Tarantino. He’s also rumoured to create a third season of Mindhunter.
Therefore, if the US Squid Game does move forward, it could be a little while before we see it hit Netflix.
Netflix
What will the plot of Squid Game: America be?
Initial reports about the expansion of the Squid Game universe suggested that Netflix would create an English-speaking film remake of the Korean series. However, it seems unlikely that streaming giant wants just to recreate the plot of the original Squid Game in a different country.
According to the rumours mentioned above, the new production will instead be a spin-off of the Korean show, which seems a much more suitable direction for the universe to take. There is a good chance that the creators of the Korean games will decide to ‘share’ their format with other countries, and thus, the bloody games will make their way to the US.
When it comes to challenges, the creators of the English-language spin-off will likely draw inspiration from kids’ games unique to American culture. Some Korean games have their counterparts in Western tradition, while others – like Ddakhi or Dalgona – don’t. It will be great to see how the creators of the spin-off turn familiar children’s games into bloody tournaments.
While the series is based on universal themes of capitalism, poverty, and greed, the creators of the spin-off will need to present them within the socio-political context of the United States.
Netflix
Who is the cast of Squid Game: America?
Major spoilers for the end of Squid Game season 3 below
In the final few minutes of the last episode of Squid Game, we see that a recruiter for the competition is on the streets of Los Angeles playing ddakji with a man… and it’s none other than Hollywood legend, Cate Blanchett, best known for The Lord of the Rings, Elizabeth, Tár and more.
Blanchett is a huge name, so she will likely star in the series, at least in the first few episodes, perhaps recruiting the main character.
Speaking of which, the protagonist will likely be someone at their lowest and ready to risk everything by joining the game. In the Korean series, the protagonist was a man. So maybe we could see the show follow a woman for a change of pace.
If the original format is transferred to the US unchanged, Netflix will have to cast roles such as the Recruiter, the Front Man, and the soldiers. There will also of course be a whole range of game participants, and perhaps a detective tracking down the organisers of the challenges.
