Rumorville: David Fincher working on an English-language version of Squid Game?

In 2021, Netflix aired Squid Game, a Korean-lanuage drama about people so hard up for money they're willing to be put their lives on the line playing a series of high-stakes game for what we come to learn is the amusement of a bunch of bored billionaires. The show was an electrifying satire of the widening gaps between the haves and have-nots in the world today, and became the most successful show in the history of Netflix.

The streaming service has capitalized on that success, making a reality show called Squid Game: The Challenge and greenlighting a second season of the original show that will premiere sometime this year. Back when Squid Game was first blowing up, I wondered if Netflix might consider making an English-language version of the show, although it didn't seem necessary; the first show became a monster his on its own terms.

Still, rumors of an English-language remake have popped up from time to time, most recently in World of Reel, which quotes Hollywood scoop hound Jeff Sneider as saying that director David Fincher has been "quietly working" on such a project.

This is most definitely a rumor and should not be taken as true without further confirmation. World in Reel says that an issue of industry rag Production Weekly listed Fincher as the producer of an American remake of Squid Game last October. It's hard to confirm that without buying the issue, although there was no mainstream coverage of it at the time despite how big a story that would be, and the summaries of the October 2023 issues of Production Weekly make no mention of it.

Fincher came to prominence in the '90s as the director of movies like Se7en and Fight Club and has been working ever since. He has a close relationship with Netflix, having made acclaimed series like Mindhunter and movies like The Killer. He also has directed at least one English-language remake of a foreign film: 2011's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a remake of the 2009 Swedish film of the same name.

All of that is interesting, but none of it is proof that this Squid Game remake is actually happening. Again, Netflix really doesn't need to make another version of Squid Game given that the original show is such a huge hit. Then again, they don't need to make a new anime series based on the tremendously popular manga series One Piece, but they're doing that anyway. This story also puts me in the mind of Parasite, the 2019 Korean drama that won the Oscar for Best Picture. That movie is successful and awesome, but HBO is still working on an English-language TV version. In Hollywood, what's necessary needn't have any bearing on what happens.

Still, until we know more, I'd treat these rumors with caution. I'll just be happy to see the second season of the original Squid Game when it comes out on Netflix later this year:

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