“Squid Game”
Most successful Netflix series of all time
Jung Ho-yeon (r.) Became a celebrated Instagram star through “Squid Game”.
© YOUNGKYU PARK / Netflix
“Squid Game” has made it: The South Korean series has had the most successful Netflix start, replacing “Bridgerton”.
“Squid Game” is the biggest series debut of all time on Netflix. The streaming service announced this on Wednesday (October 13th). 111 million accounts have turned on since the series first appeared on September 17th. Previously, the first season of “Bridgerton” (82 million households in the first month) was the most watched Netflix series of all time, followed by “Lupine” Part 1 (76 million) and the first season of “The Witcher” (76 million). According to “Variety”, however, it is important to note that the access figures are published by the streaming service itself and that a series is apparently already seen if only two minutes of it are streamed.
Innocent child’s play turns into a struggle for survival
The series is a macabre survival series. Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae, 48) is heavily in debt. The unemployed chauffeur lives in poor conditions and tries to make money by betting – without success. One day a mysterious man invites him to play games with high prize money; Gi-hun agrees.
He finds himself in a mysterious place with hundreds of people, who are also highly indebted. Masked men ask the 456 candidates to play an old children’s game. However, the innocent game quickly develops into a brutal slaughter: whoever loses a round also loses his life. For each participant who falls, 100 million won (around 72,000 euros) go into the jackpot. The troubled players are given the opportunity to cancel the project – but then they would go home empty-handed.
Is there a second season?
The hype surrounding the series became apparent early on. “‘Squid Game’ is sure to be our biggest non-English-language series,” US media quoted Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos (57) a few weeks ago. “Squid Game” ranks number 1 on the Netflix hit lists in numerous countries.
Despite the huge success it is not clear whether the director and screenwriter Hwang Dong-hyuk (50) will produce a second season of “Squid Game”. “I don’t have any elaborate plans for ‘Squid Game 2’ yet. It tires me just thinking about it,” told the filmmaker “Variety”. However, he does not want to completely rule out a sequel.