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Entertainment

17th Oct 2021

‘Squid Game’ will generate nearly $900 million for Netflix

Kieran Galpin

A real life Squid Game is happening in South Korea

Squid Game IS the G.O.A.T

Netflix’s Korean drama Squid Game will generate nearly $900 million in value for the streaming company despite the show itself only having a budget of $21 million.

Internal documents obtained by Bloomberg show that the Korean thriller only cost $21.4 million to produce, which works out to approximately $2.4 million per episode.

The show has reportedly generated $891 million in ‘impact value’. ‘Impact Value’ is the metric that Netflix uses to understand the financial importance of its shows, as, unlike films, they don’t generate box office.

Other Netflix hits can cost £12 million per episode to produce, meaning Squid Game is not only the most popular, but the most cost-effective.

Squid Game continually breaks headlines and records, having last week succeeded Bridgeton as the most-watched Netflix original of all time.

The show has become so popular that schools have had to display warnings for parents.

“Squid Game – Online Safety Alert & Guidance for Parents,” reads the intro to one post from Conyers School and Sixth Form in Yarm on Teesside.

“The series is certified 15 and depicts sex scenes, nudity, extreme violence, self-harm, suicide, bad language.

“The advice external bodies would give would not be any different to advice we would give about any other TV or film not suitable for children.

“If they are not of the age to meet the certification, then they shouldn’t really be watching that series/film.”

The schools attached the Netflix parents guide alongside their post.

There has also been news of a real-life Squid Game, and no, it doesn’t relate to the road signs that bear the same symbols.

St. John’s Hotel in Gangneung will be hosting a real-life version of the show in an event that will see the winner receive five million won (approximately £3,090).

As explained on the site, competitors receive a mysterious business card with a phone number before being sent to a pine forest near the hotel. From there, they compete in four games inspired by the show: ‘the Mugunghwa flower has bloomed’ (‘Red Light, Green Light’), ‘ttakji-chigi’ (paper tile flipping), the now iconic ‘dalgona (flat sugar candy) challenge’ and a classic tug of war.

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