Squid Game is one of the most-watched shows on streaming — it’s Netflix’s largest-ever show launch — and it had a production budget that amounted to just peanuts when compared to the budgets of its competitors. In fact, one new report suggests the entire season of Squid Game cost less than a single episode of Marvel Studios’ new programming on Disney+.
Bloomberg is reporting Netflix spent just $21 million on the first season of Squid Game, with each episode receiving a budget of roughly $2.4 million. Those paltry figures are minute even when compared to programming produced in-house at the streamer. Hits like Stranger Things and The Crown received upwards of $10 million and $8 million per episode, respectively.
Netflix announced last week over 111 million people have watched Squid Game around the world. Though series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk is unsure if the series will get a second season, the writer says there are some stories he’d like toexplore.
“But there are some other stories in the series that have not been addressed. For example, the story of the police officer and the story of his brother, the Front Man. So if I end up creating season two, I’d like to explore that storyline — what is going on between those two brothers?,” he said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
The writer added, “And then I could also go into the story of that recruiter in the suit who plays the game of ddakji with Gi-hun and gives him the card in the first episode. And, of course, we could go with Gi-hun’s story as he turns back, and explore more about how he’s going to navigate through his reckoning with the people who are designing the games. So, I don’t know yet, but I’ll just say there are a lot of possibilities out there for season two storylines.”
Squid Game Season One is now streaming on Netflix. What’d you think of the Netflix phenomenon? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!