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Tag: Squid Game

  • Netflix Is Increasing Its Subscription Fee

    Netflix Is Increasing Its Subscription Fee

    In Summary

    • Netflix announced better-than-expected subscriber numbers, helped by the second series of South Korean drama Squid Game as well as sports including a boxing match between influencer-turned-fighter Jake Paul and former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
    • In the US, prices will increase across almost all plans including the standard subscription with no adverts which will now cost $17.99 (£14.60) a month, up from $15.49.

    Netflix will raise prices across a number of countries after adding nearly 19 million subscribers in the final months of 2024.

    The streaming firm said it will increase subscription costs in the US, Canada, Argentina and Portugal.

    “We will occasionally ask our members to pay a little more so that we can re-invest to further improve Netflix,” it said.

    Netflix announced better-than-expected subscriber numbers, helped by the second series of South Korean drama Squid Game as well as sports including a boxing match between influencer-turned-fighter Jake Paul and former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

    In the US, prices will increase across almost all plans including the standard subscription with no adverts which will now cost $17.99 (£14.60) a month, up from $15.49.

    Its membership with adverts will also rise, by one dollar to $7.99.

    The last time Netflix raised prices in the US was October 2023, when it also lifted costs for some plans in the UK.

    Asked if prices were set to increase in the UK, a spokesperson for Netflix said there was “nothing to share right now”.

    Meanwhile, the company said it finished last year with more than 300 million subscribers in total. It had been expected to add 9.6 million new subscribers between October and December but far surpassed that number.

    It is the last time that Netflix will report quarterly subscriber growth – from now on it said it will “continue to announce paid memberships as we cross key milestones”.

    As well as Squid Game and the Paul v Tyson fight, Netflix also streamed two NFL games on Christmas Day.

    It will also broadcast more live events including WWE wrestling and has bought the rights for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2027 and 2031.

    Paolo Pescatore, a technology analyst at PP Foresight, said Netflix “is now flexing its muscles by adjusting prices given its far stronger and diversified programming slate compared to rivals”.

    Net profit between October and December doubled to $1.8bn compared to the same period a year ago.

    Sales rose from $8.8bn to $10.2bn.

    (BBC)

  • Squid Game Will Be Back For Season 2, Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk Confirms Plans

    Squid Game Will Be Back For Season 2, Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk Confirms Plans

    Squid Game will be back for round two.

    The show’s creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, confirmed the plans for a second season of the South Korean survival drama in a recent interview with the Associated Press.

    “So there’s been so much pressure, so much demand and so much love for a second season,” he told the AP in Korean, per a translation from Forbes. “So I almost feel like you leave us no choice! But I will say there will indeed be a second season. It’s in my head right now. I’m in the planning process currently. But I do think it’s too early to say when and how that’s going to happen.”

    “So I will promise you this…,” the writer and director continued, before switching to English and referencing his main character, Seong Gi-hun, played by Lee Jung-jae.

    “Gi-hun will come back, and he will do something for the world,” Hwang said.

    Squid Game S1

    Squid Game follows a group of 456 people facing massive debts who willingly compete in a series of seemingly simple children’s games in an attempt to win a $40 million cash prize. The only catch is that if they lose, they die.

    Within 17 days of being released, the gory thriller became Netflix’s biggest ever series at launch — beating even Bridgerton — and the first to surpass 100 million viewers when it premiered, the streaming service revealed last month.

    Hwang previously opened up to Variety about the difficult process of writing the show, and whether or not he would make a second season given the first one’s success.

    “I wanted to write a story that was an allegory or fable about modern capitalist society, something that depicts an extreme competition, somewhat like the extreme competition of life. But I wanted it to use the kind of characters we’ve all met in real life,” he said. “As a survival game, it is entertainment and human drama. The games portrayed are extremely simple and easy to understand. That allows viewers to focus on the characters, rather than being distracted by trying to interpret the rules.”

    Hwang added that writing Squid Game “was harder than normal” for him because it is a TV series rather than a film.

    “It took me six months to write and rewrite the first two episodes,” he said. “Then I consulted verbally with friends, and picked up clues for improvements through my own pitching and from their responses.”

    He also said that he would approach a second season differently from the first.

    “I don’t have well-developed plans for Squid Game 2,” Hwang said in September. “It is quite tiring just thinking about it. But if I were to do it, I would certainly not do it alone. I’d consider using a writers’ room and would want multiple experienced directors.”

    Season 1 of Squid Game is available to stream on Netflix.