Early today (April 14), DiscussingFilm (a typically reputable source for breaking and/or rumored news) reported that an American remake of Netflix’s Squid Game was in the works. As we know, the drama series took the world by storm in September 2021, skyrocketing creator Hwang Dong-hyuk to immense fame and household name status across the globe — not just South Korea. Squid Game‘s ensemble cast — Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, HoYeon Jung, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Joo-ryoung — all received their respective moments in the spotlight as well, extending the reach of their illustrious careers beyond South Korea (and in Tripathi’s case, also India). But in America, we can’t have nice things. Nor can we have foreign-made entertainment without an insatiable need to whitewash and remake it.
Although Dong-hyuk had conceived the idea for Squid Game back in 2009, it wasn’t until a decade later that Netflix showed some interest in pursuing it as part of the campaign to expand its foreign programming catalog. And, boy, Netflix must be glad that it snatched up that opportunity when it came a-knocking. With relative ease, Squid Game climbed the ranks immediately to become Netflix’s most-watched series at the time, surpassing the likes of Bridgerton. The series took home several Golden Globes as well as Screen Actors Guild Awards, making O Yeong-su, Lee Jung-jae, and HoYeon Jung the first Koreans to ever receive Best Supporting Actor, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, respectively.
In June 2022, Squid Game was confirmed for another season, due in either late 2023 or early 2024. But, of course, Netflix couldn’t leave it there. And once more, America has made the same mistake of ruining perfectly good shows over and over again, so why would this time be any different? Netflix is giving us the Squid Game remake that absolutely no one asked for.
And it shouldn’t come as a shock for Squid Game fans to repel the mere notion of remaking such a modern-day masterpiece. There’s a plethora of reasons why Netflix shouldn’t go ahead with this (racism sits fairly high on that list), but even removing everyone’s favorite shows in recent years hasn’t given the corporation the wake-up call it deserves, so maybe this appalling executive decision will be the nail in the coffin. Because the remake will inevitably crash and burn — we all know it.
Plus, another glaringly obvious reason presents itself, albeit in a comical fashion. MrBeast, an entrepreneur and philanthropist who pioneered a genre of YouTube content that focuses solely on expensive stunts and competitions, often hosts challenges involving a sizeable number of people competing for a grand prize, typically cash. Does that ring any bells? In fact, the YouTuber hosted his very own version of Squid Game last year, offering up a grand prize of $456,000. Any other remakes are unworthy.
Obviously, all the “games” featured in MrBeast’s “Squid Game” are entirely safe and harmless, unlike those seen in the Netflix series. He does an excellent job of replicating the environments, however, so it’s certainly convincing enough for one to believe otherwise.
Watch the full season of Squid Game on Netflix now.