Netflix scrapped David Fincher's American Squid Game
Netflix has pulled the plug on David Fincher‘s Squid Game spinoff, the long-rumored American take on the Korean megahit.
According to The Playlist, which broke the story, Netflix is no longer moving forward with the project, which carried the working title “Heckler.” It was conceived as an English-language expansion of Squid Game, with production planned in the UK and Dennis Kelly, creator of Utopia, hired to write.
The decision came from Netflix, not Fincher. The streamer’s priorities for the franchise, per the report, have “shifted.”
Why Netflix killed it
The reasoning is a strategic pivot, not a creative falling-out.
Rather than build its Squid Game future around a single American offshoot, Netflix now reportedly wants versions tailored to individual countries, think separate French, Norwegian, or other localized spinoffs. One source stressed those specific examples are speculative and no regional version is confirmed, but the direction is away from one big English-language series.
The project also just lost momentum over time. It spent years in development through multiple Netflix executive changes, and Fincher himself moved on to other work, most notably The Adventures of Cliff Booth, the Tarantino-written, Brad Pitt-starring Once Upon a Time in Hollywood follow-up he’s finishing now.
The Cate Blanchett red herring
There’s a fun wrinkle the cancellation clears up.
When Cate Blanchett turned up in the Squid Game finale as an American recruiter in Los Angeles, the internet immediately assumed it was a backdoor tease for Fincher’s US spinoff. It wasn’t. The Playlist reports the project was never developed with her in mind, and she had no involvement with Heckler. The cameo everyone read as a setup was, apparently, just a cameo.
What it means for Fincher and Netflix
The bigger question the report raises is about Fincher’s future at Netflix, and here honesty requires restraint.
Fincher signed a Netflix deal in 2020, later extended through 2027, so he has about a year left. He’s made almost exclusively Netflix content since 2015, and in a 2024 interview he called the streamer the “industry standard” and “the future of cinema.” A shelved project doesn’t automatically mean a souring relationship.
That said, it’s fair to note the arrangement is worth watching. If Fincher became a free agent, a studio bidding war for a director of his stature is easy to imagine. But “Netflix killed one project” to “Fincher’s Netflix era is ending” is a leap the reporting doesn’t support, it’s the kind of speculation that outruns the facts. What’s confirmed is narrower and clear: the American Squid Game is dead, it was Netflix’s call, and the franchise is going local instead.
Article compiled and edited by Derek Gibbs (entertainment editor) and the Clownfish TV newsroom.
D/REZZED is part of Clownfish TV. For more news, views, and rants on gaming, tech, and pop culture, visit clownfishtv.com. Watch the show on YouTube at @ClownfishTV where new episodes drop daily. Subscribe to the Clownfish TV podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, and wherever else you get your podcasts. Sign up for the free newsletter at more.clownfishtv.com.
Hat Tips:
The Playlist, Rodrigo Perez (August 6, 2026), verified for Netflix no longer moving forward with Heckler, the working title, the UK production plan, Dennis Kelly writing, Netflix’s shifted priorities, the country-specific-versions strategy, the speculative-regional-examples caveat, and the Cate Blanchett clarification
Collider (August 6, 2026), verified for the decision being Netflix’s, the executive changes, Fincher moving to The Adventures of Cliff Booth, and the UK-not-US filming plan
What’s on Netflix (August 6, 2026), verified for the “Squid Game: America” rumors dating back two years, the abandoned late-2025 LA production start, and the Dennis Kelly / Utopia / HBO history
ComingSoon and The Statesman (August 7, 2026), verified for the project being “officially dead,” the Blanchett cameo not being developed with her in mind, and the Cliff Booth reshoots context