Netflix has quietly abandoned plans for an English-language spin-off of its global phenomenon Squid Game, the project long associated with director David Fincher, according to multiple industry sources. The series, which carried the working title Heckler, is no longer moving forward at the streamer after years in development.

Squid Game, created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, became a worldwide cultural sensation upon its 2021 debut and concluded its planned three-season run in 2025. While the original series wrapped its core story, Netflix had shown strong interest in spinning the deadly children’s games concept into new markets, particularly an American or English-language version.

Sources close to Fincher told The Playlist that the project originated during a period when the company was especially eager to develop a U.S.-style adaptation of the Korean hit. British writer Dennis Kelly, creator of the original Utopia series, was hired to pen the script. Fincher and Kelly already shared some history: the director had once been attached to an HBO adaptation of Utopia written by Gillian Flynn before that effort collapsed over budget concerns.

Flynn later developed a different version for Amazon, and Fincher eventually turned directly to Kelly for Heckler.

Although conceived as an American take on Squid Game, production was expected to take place in the United Kingdom rather than the United States. Reports in 2024 and later listings had suggested filming could begin as early as 2025 or 2026, with some industry databases even floating titles like Squid Game: America and tentative shoot dates in Los Angeles. Netflix itself never officially confirmed the series, its title, or a production schedule.

Several factors contributed to the project’s demise. Executive changes at Netflix altered franchise priorities over time. The series also lost momentum as Fincher shifted focus to other work, most notably The Adventures of Cliff Booth, the Netflix follow-up to Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Written by Tarantino and starring Brad Pitt, that film has completed principal photography but requires additional days of reshoots and pickups this month.

Original cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt is unavailable due to commitments on Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II, so longtime Fincher collaborator Jeff Cronenweth—known for Fight Club, The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Gone Girl—will handle the extra photography. Cliff Booth is scheduled for a limited two-week IMAX theatrical run beginning November 25, 2026, followed by a global Netflix streaming debut on December 23.

Rather than centering its larger Squid Game strategy around a single high-profile English-language American offshoot, Netflix now appears more inclined to explore versions tailored to individual international markets. Sources suggested this could theoretically include separate French, Norwegian, or other country-specific spin-offs, though they stressed that such examples remain speculative and no particular regional project is known to be advancing.

What is clear is that Fincher’s Heckler is no longer part of the plan. Netflix did not respond to requests for comment.

The cancellation also clarifies speculation surrounding Cate Blanchett’s surprise appearance in the Squid Game series finale. The Oscar-winning actress played an American recruiter operating in Los Angeles, prompting widespread assumptions that the scene served as a backdoor pilot or teaser for Fincher’s project.

Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk had previously denied any direct connection, and Blanchett herself later said she was “wildly open” to returning in some capacity while noting she knew no more than the public.

According to the latest reporting, Heckler was never developed with Blanchett or her character in mind, and there is no indication she was involved.

Heckler would have represented the franchise’s first scripted English-language extension. Netflix has already expanded the property through the unscripted competition series Squid Game: The Challenge, and the original drama remains one of the platform’s biggest global successes.

The decision to pivot away from a Fincher-led American version reflects a broader recalibration: after the intense global attention of the first seasons and mixed responses to later installments, the company is rethinking how best to sustain interest without overextending a single high-stakes English-language series.

For Fincher, the outcome frees him to pursue other possibilities. Options discussed in recent years include a Chinatown prequel series written by the late Robert Towne, the Western Bitterroot, and an unnamed feature developed with Gillian Flynn.

The shelving of Heckler closes a chapter of anticipation that began in earnest around 2024, when reports first linked Fincher to an English-language Squid Game effort.

Public Reaction

Fans who hoped for a darker, more precise American interpretation from the filmmaker behind Se7en, Zodiac, and Gone Girl will not see that vision realized at least not under the current Netflix strategy. Instead, the games may continue in more localized forms, or the franchise may evolve in directions still being determined behind closed doors.