Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ Success Could Cut Korean Film Industry’s Reliance On China: Korean Filmmaker

In this photo taken on October 7, 2021, a large digital screen on a building displays the logo of Netflix, producers of the South Korean hit series "Squid Game", beyond a South Korean flag hoisted above a pavement in Seoul. - A dystopian vision of a polarised society, Netflix smash hit Squid Game blends a tight plot, social allegory and uncompromising violence to create the latest South Korean cultural phenomenon to go global. - TO GO WITH AFP STORY SKOREA-US-TELEVISION-SOCIAL-SQUID GAME,FOCUS BY CLAIRE LEE (Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY SKOREA-US-TELEVISION-SOCIAL-SQUID GAME,FOCUS BY CLAIRE LEE Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images

Netflix’s South Korean drama “Squid Game” has become the most popular TV series in the platform’s history. It has exceeded 132 million views in only 23 days after its launch and ranked first in more than 90 countries worldwide. A South Korean documentary filmmaker suggests its success could end the South Korean film industry’s reliance on Chinese money.

The dystopian series, in which contestants who are deeply in need of money play deadly children’s games to win cash prizes, is the first-ever Korean series to reach No. 1 in the United States, creating almost $900 million in value for the company.