The week seems to have been a locked safe, yielding little for Netflix. However, there’s always a marquee announcement just around the corner and this time, it appears that Squid Game is taking center stage among the current international releases. Unfortunately, the return of the South Korean phenomenon has generated quite the buzz, but not for the best of reasons — but we’ll unveil that in a minute.
On the numbers side of things, the charts have been telling us all we need to know to reach a very unexpected conclusion: non-English content is proving to be the catalyst for Netflix’s efforts to expand internationally. Somewhere in Spain, a group of producers is bound to be very happy that the country is getting the recognition it deserves beyond the beaches of Ibiza and good paella.
Elsewhere, a company is experiencing the much-anticipated hype surrounding a vampire-esque fan favorite that Netflix chose not to hold back in its repertoire. We bet the streaming giant is regretting its shortsighted decisions based on number figures right about now.
A new glimpse into Squid Game: The Challenge proves Netflix really missed the point of the show
Have you ever noticed how history keeps repeating itself? Well, take Squid Game as an example. Almost two years after the critique of capitalism arrived on Netflix with moderate popularity, the platform has now made further efforts to turn it into a brand or franchise, where all the original poignancy seems to have evaporated. Enter Squid Game: The Challenge, the new reality series, based on the Squid Game premise. The official teaser just dropped, providing proof of how blinded by money some higher-ups can truly be.
Pact of Silence and Berlín are two more examples of Spanish hits that show how coveted non-English content really is
For nearly three weeks, Lupin has dominated the charts, establishing itself as the undisputed front-runner for one of the most popular international shows on the platform. That is, until its reign came to an abrupt end, courtesy of none other than the phenomenon that was the Pact of Silence, a Spanish-language mystery episodic thriller that has just landed on the platform. According to the charts, the Spanish series racked up an astonishing 68.8 million total hours viewed. Absolutely mind-boggling.
But that’s not all the news coming from the Iberian Peninsula. The Money Heist sequel, entitled Berlín, has just released a new teaser, showcasing how prepared the new installment is to steal the top spots on the Netflix charts. This new addition under the La Casa De Papel umbrella is particularly surprising, especially considering the show was on the verge of being axed by Netflix. It’s time to say, enhorabuena!
Ironically, Netflix loses I Woke Up a Vampire just before Halloween
This week’s ironic peak didn’t confine itself to Squid Game: The Challenge. If that were the case, the news wouldn’t be coming from Netflix at all, right? Either way, this brings us to the next questionable move by the streaming giant: the decision to ignore I Woke Up a Vampire… just in time for Halloween.
The spooky season is upon us, and the platform should know better than to entirely sideline this supernatural hit series, especially when The Family Channel in Canada has already aired the remaining episodes of the extended season. It’s not every day that you find a family-friendly spooky series, and it seems that Netflix has completely overlooked it for some reason.
The Dictator makes an unexpected return to the Top 10 Films of the week
On the quieter side of things, the controversial comedy The Dictator has somehow, against the odds, found its way onto the charts, according to FlixPatrol. Despite being banned in Belarus, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, it has staged an unexpected comeback, securing a spot in the Top 10 in 36 countries worldwide, and even ranking as the sixth most-viewed movie on the entire platform.
What’s more, the film was shortened and censored just so it could air in countries like Uzbekistan and Pakistan. Perhaps it’s the fact that the film is led by Sacha Baron Cohen, but something in the world of politics suggests that the comedic reign of Borat may be entering its most contentious days very soon, but that’s all there is to the Netflix land of news.