Netflix CEO denies rumors around David Fincher's 'Squid Game' remake

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos drew the line when asked about the David Fincher's U.S. remake of the Korean-language original TV series "Squid Game," telling the Korean press that is "just a rumor" during his two-day visit to Korea.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos speaks at a press gathering hosted by Netflix Korea in central Seoul on Friday. [LEE JAE-LIM]

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos drew the line when asked about the David Fincher's U.S. remake of the Korean-language original TV series "Squid Game," telling the Korean press that is "just a rumor" during his two-day visit to Korea.

Fincher is behind Hollywood hits such as "Se7en" (1995), "Fight Club" (1999), "Zodiac" (2007), "The Social Network" (2010) and "Gone Girl" (2014).

This is Sarandos' second official visit to Korea, just eight months after his last in June to inspect the K-content landscape and get a sneak peek into the upcoming season 2 of “Squid Game.”

His official schedule included visiting the Seoul office of a production subsidiary on Friday. On the following day, Sarandos visited the site in Chungcheong province where the next season of the highly anticipated “Squid Game” is currently being filmed.

“I’m so thrilled to be back in Korea,” Sarandos told the press at Netflix Korea’s press event in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Friday. “Every time I’m here, I’m just so impressed with the industry, with the final storytelling, the media industry itself and then with this incredible group of journalists who actually nurtured this business and helped share with us the passion for a greater storytelling that can change the world.”

Sarandos mentioned some of the recent Korean original hits such as “Physical: 100” (2023), “The Glory” (2022, 2023), “Kill Boksoon” (2023) and the “Sweet Home” series as examples to highlight the potential of K-content.

“This year, we’re very excited about the return of ‘Physical 100,’ the new season, ‘Sweet Home’ and of course, ‘Squid Game.’”

The CEO also expressed his excitement to meet the creator behind “Squid Game,” director Hwang Dong-hyuk.

“We’re really excited about Mr. Hwang’s ability to push storytelling to new limits, more dynamic sets and more mind-blowing storylines that are going to thrill the entire world.”

The production house that Sarandos visited on Friday is the Seoul office of the Eyeline Studios, in which the streaming giant inked a deal to invest $100 million between 2022 and 2027.

“I’m going to go to Eyeline and spend time with our effects artists there which is a group that is growing very quickly — we started with a total of five employees in 2019 that grew to 131 this year,” Sarandos told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

The co-CEO expressed his interest in the Korean-language scripted TV series, saying that he’s been “a big Korean cinema fan from way back.”

“What I’m really excited to see is how the history of Korean cinema has influenced TV so that the dramas are so fun to watch — the soapier it gets, the more exciting it becomes. But what I really like is the kind of elevated production value of the Korean series, like ‘The Glory’ and ‘Sweet Home.’”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]