Just a few days after becoming Netflix’s biggest series launch of all time, Squid Game is on pace to deliver a staggering payback to the platform.
According to internal estimates obtained by Bloomberg, the South Korean series will generate just shy of $900 million in value for the streaming giant. Squid Game, which cost $21.4 million to produce, is expected to bring in $891 million in “impact value,” a metric based on subscriber viewing.
The news arrives less than a week after the survival drama reached 111 million viewers, making it the biggest launch for a new show on the platform. The record was previously held by Bridgerton, which had amassed 82 million first-month viewers after it launched last Christmas.
In a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the show’s creator, writer, and director Hwang Dong-hyuk discussed the possibility of a Season 2.
“The pressure on me is huge now, with such a big audience waiting for a Season 2,” Hwang explained. “Because of all that pressure, I haven’t decided yet whether or not I should do another season. But if you look at it in a positive way, because so many people loved Season 1 and are expecting good things for Season 2, there are people everywhere in the world offering their opinions about where the show should go.”
Hwang continued, “I could actually pull ideas from fans all around the world to create the next season. I think that’s what I’m wrestling with right now—that I shouldn’t just view it as a huge amount of pressure, but think of all of this love and support I’m receiving as a big box of inspiration that I can leverage for Season 2.”
