Squid Game became an international phenomenon in 2021 when its first season was released on Netflix. The South Korean series attracted viewers from all over the world for its dichotomous reflection of capitalism by putting people in deadly children’s games. While it was initially conceived as a one-season deal, Netflix responded to the overwhelming success of the series by expanding it into a multimedia universe.

In the three years since Squid Game‘s release, the universe has expanded with a British reality show called Squid Game: The Challenge, a mobile game called Squid Game: Unleashed and knockoff web series and graphic novels. The second season of the official series dropped on Netflix in December 2024, with mainly positive reviews. Now, David Fincher seems to want to get onboard the Squid Game train with an English-speaking remake of the series based in America.

David Fincher’s Squid Game Is Still Early in Development

It’s Still Up in the Air If a Squid Game Remake Will Hit Screens

The Academy Award-nominated director (who is best known for Fight Club, Zodiac and The Social Network) was rumored in 2023 to be collaborating with Netflix to produce and direct an American version of Squid Game. This would follow one of Fincher’s many collaborations with Netflix, including House of Cards and Mindhunter. Neither Netflix nor Fincher has confirmed that the project was in development or even conceived, but multiple sources claim Netflix “badly” want Fincher on top of the project.

Nearly a year later, the rumor was seemingly squashed by Netflix President Ted Sarandos. He remarked that “since the main series is still ongoing, there’s no justified reason for Netflix to do a remake.” However, this doesn’t mean an American Squid Game is a definite no. A show of this magnitude takes ample time to create, especially if it’s a remake that is destined to be heavily compared to the original series. With a director like Fincher, surely he’s patient about not rushing the series and avoiding the sacrifice of quality.

Squid Game Television Projects

Status

Squid Game Season 1
Released Sept. 17, 2021

Squid Game Season 2
Released Dec. 26, 2024

Squid Game Season 3
In-development; Expected to release in 2025

Squid Game: The Challenge Season 1
Released Nov. 22, 2023

Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2
In-development

David Fincher’s untitled Squid Game spinoff
Rumored to be in development

 

Sure enough, Fincher may be keeping his work on American Squid Game on the down-low. The Playlist recently reported that Fincher has been quietly working on the remake for the past two years and has recruited British writer Dennis Kelly to pen the series. Since Squid Game premiered in 2021, Finch has put his development of the Chinatown prequel on the backburner, which may or may not have anything to do with his work on his adaptation of Squid Game. However, neither Fincher nor Netflix has released an official statement about a Squid Game spinoff, and these rumors must be taken with a grain of salt.

How Will an American Squid Game Differ From the South Korean Squid Game?

Cultural Differences Could Justify an American Squid Game’s Existence

Since both Fincher and Kelly have dabbled in the thriller genre in the past, the American version of Squid Game may have a darker tone to it, if that’s even possible. Squid Game is already gory and grim, but Fincher could add a psychological layer to the mayhem that Hwang Dong-hyuk already established as the showrunner of the original series.

Squid Game‘s core themes boil down to the fact that money is the root of all evil, a pretty universal ideology across the world. The dystopian economic factor of South Korea’s Squid Game can translate well into America’s class struggles. But given how capitalism and poverty are entangled in the current hostile political climate of the United States, exploring the conservative vs. liberal politics of Squid Game would be an interesting point of view that would make the spinoff distinct from the original.

The most obvious deviation from the South Korean Squid Game is the children’s games. Americans don’t typically play Ddakhi (the recruiting game), Dalgona, or Gonggi. Squid Game features universal games like Tug of War and marbles, but in Fincher’s adaptation, there have to be children’s games that are unique to American culture. Some games that could take a deadly turn include Simon Says (an easy replacement for Red Light, Green Light), Tag, Musical Chairs and Four Square. As much as the Squid Game universe abandons the show’s message about money as the cause of human greed, there’s no denying that Fincher has plenty of material to create an American version that will spark the same feeling people had when the original series dropped.