Netflix Finally Cancels A Show That Actually Deserves It

Squid Games. Cate Blanchett in episode 306 of Squid Games. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025

COURTESY OF NETFLIX

Netflix is well-known for often cancelling shows that it shouldn’t, but on rare occasions, it is justified in doing so. This time? It’s scrapping a bad-sounding project before it even has a chance to make it to air.

There’s a new report from The Playlist that Netflix is no longer moving forward with its high-profile American version of Squid Game, which would have been a spinoff of the service’s most-watched series in its history. That was very clearly set up when in the final moments of the Squid Game series finale, none other than double Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett showed up as a recruiter for the game.

This was meant to be developed with director David Fincher, responsible for such Netflix series like House of Cards and Mindhunter. It was going to be written by Utopia’s Dennis Kelly with Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk reportedly not involved.

Two things appear to have happened, however. One is that Netflix is changing how it handles its “franchises,” and this did not fit in with that plan. The second is that David Fincher is busy elsewhere, directing Once Upon a Time in Hollywood sequel, The Adventures of Cliff Booth for Netflix. Previously, Fincher made Mank and The Killer with Netflix, the former of which received 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director (it won two, Best Cinematography and Best Production Design)

Fincher has frustrated many fans who want one thing, more seasons of Mindhunter, which many consider the best show Netflix has ever made. There have been a number of reasons presented as to why this didn’t happen, ranging from Fincher being busy elsewhere to the series costing too much. The latter seems annoyingly improbable these days, given the sheer amount of content spend Netflix now puts out every year ($20 billion in 2026).

As for Squid Game, an American version being developed after the finale of the original Korean version certainly was eyerolling. Whether or not it would have been a big hit is unclear, but surely not at the scale of the original, which saw its viewership drop after a long wait between seasons. It had an awkward split between seasons 2 and 3, which felt like one season cut in half. Those seasons also reportedly more than tripled their budgets from $21 million to $69 million.

It’s unknown if Netflix will still try to expand the Squid Game brand. There are rumors they might do country-specific shows outside of the US, but none are actually in development. For once, maybe it’s time to let a franchise go, even if it was hugely popular for a time. Netflix has not responded for comment at this time.

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