According to reports, Netflix paid $21.4 million for its massively acclaimed South Korean thriller series Squid Game. It is the streamer’s most expensive series to date. Netflix has hardly done any promotion for the show. Squid Game is still trending. It has managed to capture and hold the attention of the viewers.
It climbs to the number 1 spot of the streamer’s Top 10 in the U.S. It’s remarkable not only because of the show’s large audience but also because the cast is almost exclusively Korean-speaking. The spending for Squid Game was part of a $500 million investment in South Korean entertainment for the platform.
If the show’s extraordinary success is any indicator, it was a wise investment on Netflix’s part. Demonstrating the huge acceptance of Korean and other foreign media in the Western market. It may even encourage other platforms to invest overseas to discover the next big international property, especially given the cheaper acquisition cost.
Bloomberg reports the streaming service had to pay top dollar for the series. The figure comes from internal documents obtained by Bloomberg, and Netflix did not confirm the figure. Netflix has already given large checks, such as $118 million for the sitcom Friends, and even for their originals, such as The Crown, which reportedly had a $130 million production budget. So $21 million isn’t really an outlandish sum for a worldwide streaming behemoth.
Rumours of a second season of Squid Game are circulating. Netflix is certainly willing to invest even more money on its most successful series. This time, the streaming service may contemplate a larger marketing strategy other than word of mouth to attract even more people interested in the must-see show. The show’s dark themes and tumultuous storyline will make a legacy all on its own.