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Squid Game Historic Netflix Record: Koreans Thankful Over Series' Past Failures


Credit: Netflix

In just a blink of an eye, Squid Game became Netflix's biggest series launch ever, defeating Bridgerton's 82 million households record.

People have long predicted the fruitful future of Netflix soon after the series shock the streaming platform with its unique flavor. Even Netflix executives themselves expected the shocking record Squid Game could potentially make.

One month since the Korean series started making everyone gasp, the streaming giant confirmed that it has officially dethroned Bridgerton. After inviting 111 million households to the site to watch the survival thriller flick, it successfully made the record.

Following this massive success to the Korean TV industry, the people from its home country offered their epic reactions and expressed their gratitude toward the companies that rejected the series.

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Squid Game Rejected By Several Companies Before Landing On Netflix

Squid Game Historic Netflix Record: Koreans Thankful Over Series' Past Failures
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As Squid Game followed the footsteps of Parasite in the international scene, Koreans offered different reactions to show their satisfaction after hearing the news. Most of them even thanked the local production companies who let go of the masterpiece when they had the chance.

On Naver, internet users in Korea applauded the collaboration between Netflix and director Hwang Dong-Hyuk that put the series in the spotlight.

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Read some of their reactions below (as translated by AllKpop):

"Luckily the production companies of our country rejected this story so the director was able to bring it to Netflix where he was able to freely direct the show the way he wanted."

"I love that this was sponsored by Netflix, if it was sponsored by the Korean company, then it would have been filled with product placement ads."

"Yeah if this show was produced and aired on the Korean broadcast, there would have been so many changes made."

Squid Game's new milestone was previously predicted by Netflix's co-chief executive officer and chief content officer, Ted Sarandos. Weeks ago, he said that the series would be the site's biggest non-English-language show. Aside from scoring that title, Squid Game successfully became the most extensive show overall.

Why It Took 13 Years Before Squid Game Arrived

Squid Game Historic Netflix Record: Koreans Thankful Over Series' Past Failures
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In one of the show's press conferences, Squid Game director Hang Dong Hyuk revealed that he began working on the draft for the series in 2008. He forwarded it to multiple companies, but all potential investors said that everything was too extreme for future viewers. After trying hard to find production companies to release his movie, he lost everything he had.

The filmmaker was even forced to sell his laptop for $675, causing him to postpone writing the whole script. Fortunately, he found his luck on Netflix that started the production two years ago. The streaming giant's plan to highlight Korean television and film even more became the director's lifesaver.

For this year alone, Netflix reserved $500 million to produce Korean content. This only proved that the company believes in Koreans' capabilities, and Squid Game became the best example of what perfect timing truly means.

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