Franchise rethink at Netflix reportedly nixes David Fincher’s Squid Game spinoff

Heckler—the long-rumored English-language offshoot of Squid Game shepherded by David Fincher—had a script from Dennis Kelly (Utopia) and was eyeing a shoot in the U.K., not the U.S. But the project has been quietly taken off the priority list at Netflix, according to The Playlist, with people close to the filmmaker confirming the shift.

Despite months of online chatter tying Cate Blanchett to an American-set angle—fueled by speculation around a supposed recruiter cameo—The Playlist reports she was never attached. Instead of one sweeping English-language chapter, Netflix is now said to be leaning into market-by-market spinoffs inside the franchise.

Netflix is no longer moving forward with David Fincher’s Squid Game spinoff, Heckler.

• Title: Heckler
• Creator involvement: David Fincher developed; Dennis Kelly hired to write
• Planned location: United Kingdom
• Status: Not moving forward at Netflix (per The Playlist)
• Cate Blanchett: Not attached, despite online rumor

The bigger picture

The news lands as Netflix’s mega-hits keep reminding everyone how hard lightning is to bottle. Squid Game racked up 265.2 million views in its first 91 days on the platform, while Stranger Things has cleared 1.2 billion lifetime views. Yet sociologist Violaine Roussel told journalist Matt Belloni those shows didn’t start as algorithmic sure things—they became cultural events first, and the metrics caught up after.

Roussel described Netflix’s data machine as a powerful feedback loop that’s great at extending what’s already working. You can see it in the way Stranger Things spun out into Nike drops, Lego sets, and a Kate Bush chart revival, while Squid Game turned a roughly $21 million budget into an estimated $900 million in value. In that context, stepping away from a single English-language Squid Game chapter tracks with a strategy focused on local flavors that grow the brand region by region.

For now, the Fincher-led Heckler chapter is closed, and Netflix’s attention is reportedly on country-specific expansions within the Squid Game universe.