Netflix reportedly halts David Fincher’s Squid Game spin-off
A Squid Game spin-off at Netflix has hit the buffers, with a source close to its director saying momentum’s fizzled as he focuses on films.
It was all looking inevitable, wasn’t it? After Squid Game absolutely dominated Netflix, the rumour mill lit up with talk of an English-language remake or, failing that, a universe-expanding spin-off. Predictably, David Fincher’s name started floating about, because if there’s one filmmaker Netflix loves to give a pile of cash and total creative control, it’s him. But it turns out that particular TV dream has now fizzled out, and Netflix won’t be moving forward with Fincher’s take — at least for now.
Fincher’s English-language Squid Game spin-off, working title ‘Heckler’, is no longer happening at Netflix.
The pairing made a sort of sense: Fincher’s long-running relationship with Netflix saw him behind Mindhunter (now dead but still passionately mourned corners of Twitter), alongside his films Mank and The Killer. Back in 2024, word spread that he was busy sketching out a series called Heckler, reimagining the Squid Game formula in English. But, according to The Playlist, that project simply lost steam. Supposedly, Fincher got tangled up with other jobs — notably a film sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood penned by Quentin Tarantino and focused on Brad Pitt’s stuntman character, Cliff Booth. Not a bad excuse if you ask me, but it’s left Heckler in the dust for now.
What’s the creator think?
None of this happened completely behind the back of Hwang Dong-hyuk, the man who created Squid Game in the first place. When series two dropped in 2024, JoBlo.com asked Hwang how he felt about Americans (and presumably anyone else) making their own versions. Hwang doesn’t seem precious, but he was very clear about not doing it himself:
When asked if he’d help out with the rumoured US spin-off, Hwang Dong-hyuk said, “It would be great if each of the other countries could take it up for themselves. I don’t think it will be easy for me to travel to these countries and create their versions of Squid Game. Their local creators would best do the most fitting version of Squid Game for each country. So we would get a different version of Squid Game for each country by its local creators. That’d be great.”
Call it a blessing, but don’t expect him to get hands-on. Hwang’s content to let other creatives have a go (and who could blame him?), rather than pack his suitcase and personally supervise every last bit of paper-flipping mayhem globally.
A spin-off teased on screen?
The real wild bit here is how the show itself practically waved a flag for global expansion. The final minutes of Squid Game 3 tip their hand in a way that's as subtle as a sledgehammer. You’ve got In-ho (Lee Byung-hun) in Los Angeles, dropping off a present for Gi-hun’s kid. Traffic’s at a standstill. Then, in a side alley, there’s a game of good old ddakji going on — that’s the slap-happy paper-flipping contest that got everything rolling back in the first season. New season, though: it’s not the familiar Salesman but a mysterious recruiter, who turns out to be none other than Cate Blanchett in a grey suit. She locks eyes with In-ho — it’s entirely wordless, but crowbarred with meaning. If that’s not teasing a US offshoot, I’ll eat my hat.