“Squid Game” Is Now More Popular Than “Bridgerton”

October 13, 2021 / Posted by:

Squid Game is the tits, y’all! The South Korean drama following a group of people with debts who end up playing children’s games where people die as they try to win millions of dollars, has become the thing of the moment. It’s blown up the internet in South Korea and has officially become part of the Zeitgeist. And now we’ve learned that it’s kicked Shonda Rhimes‘ ass to the curb like Disneyland before she got her free pass. Bridgerton has been toppled and Squid Game is now Netflix’s most successful debut series.

Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of Squid Game, originally pitched the show ten years ago but was told it was “implausible” and “too grotesque.” But he told the Wall Street Journal that the wealth gaps and issues dealt with in his series were even more exacerbated by the pandemic, and now “all of these points made the story very realistic for people compared to a decade ago.” I’m not really at the let-people-shoot-me-for-money-phase of my life yet, but I guess we’ll see how things go.

CNN got an exclusive message from Netflix about Squid Game, and the streamer called it their “biggest-ever series at launch.” Since its debut on September 17 (26 days ago) it has been viewed by 111 million accounts. In comparison, the Duke’s cheeks managed to bring Bridgerton 82 million views in the first 28 days. More views and fewer days, Squid Game is the winner! Luckily, the loser won’t be shot by a sadistic child robot with a bad bob and bowl-cut bangs–Phewf! Also, keep in mind that Netflix reports 209 million subscribers, so that’s like half of ’em. But also keep in mind that Netflix’s numbers aren’t vetted and that they only count the first two minutes of someone watching something. So 111 million households watched at least two minutes of Squid Game.

Minyoung Kim, Netflix’s vice president of content for Asia Pacific–excluding India–said:

“When we first started investing in Korean series and films in 2015, we knew we wanted to make world-class stories for the core K-content fans across Asia and the world. Today, Squid Game has broken through beyond our wildest dreams… Squid Game gave [Netflix] more confidence that our global strategy is going towards the right direction.”

Squid Game is #1 in the Top 10 list of 94 countries and is the first-ever Korean series to reach such a spot in the United States. Here’s the trailer for it if you’re curious:

A second season hasn’t been announced yet, but Hwang Dong-hyuk has said that he’s got ideas for season two if a second season happens. But before that, we can expect a Squid Games/Bridgerton crossover event. Stay tuned for Squidgerton the next hit from Netflix. A story about a group of Victorian women who have to play psychotic games with deathly consequences in order to win the heart of the Duke!

Pic: Netflix

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