What happens when you have a hit TV show in your hands? You develop an entire cinematic universe around it, of course. From Marvel to Star Wars, that’s all the rage these days.
And according to a Netflix executive, that’s what may happen to Squid Game, which only debuted in September 2021 but already feels like it’s been around for years. The Korean survival drama quickly became the most popular show on the planet, smashing all of Netflix’s records including those set by Stranger Things and Bridgerton. By the numbers, it was watched for approximately 1.65 billion hours in its first 28 days of release.
The series centers around a large group of cash-strapped contestants who agree to take place in a series of games based on classic children’s games. The last person standing at the end wins a huge cash prize, ending their financial troubles forever. But what the players don’t know is that if they lose, they die.
Prepare for a Squid Game cinematic universe
It was no surprise that the show was renewed for a second season. However, that’s not all we’re getting. Netflix is prepared to milk the property for all it’s worth, which means creating a “universe” around it. “The ‘Squid Game’ universe has just begun,” Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos told Deadline.
Sarandos clearly believes in the show’s vision. “They didn’t try to make the show different so that it would travel, but tried to find all the things about Korean cinema and Korean drama and build them up in a way and new levels of production values,” he said. “It’s not like we had to go in and teach anyone in Korea how to make great content. It’s an incredible market for that. There’s always been curiosity around the world, K Drama market has always had pockets of success all over the place, but the ease of delivery that we’ve offered has pushed that into the mainstream.”
Depending on how far Netflix is willing to push the Squid Game franchise — evidently, pretty far — the coming years could see everything from movies, animated projects, games, novels, comics, and so on. Perhaps Squid Game: The Musical pushes it a little too far. You know how these ‘universes’ work. But how much content is too much?
Squid Game season 1 is currently streaming on Netflix… but I suspect you’ve probably seen it already.
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