NETFLIX’S SQUID GAME ESTIMATED TO BE WORTH ABOUT B30BN

Squid Game, Netflix’s biggest original series launch, is estimated to be worth almost US$900 million (30 billion baht) for the streaming giant, Bloomberg News reported late on Saturday, citing figures from an internal Netflix document.

The nine-episode thriller, in which cash-strapped contestants play childhood games with deadly consequences in a bid to win 45.6 billion won ($38.6 million), became an international hit after it launched last month.

In comparison to its estimated net worth, the show cost just $21.4 million to produce, Bloomberg said.

According to the report, about 132 million people had watched at least two minutes of the show in its first 23 days, easily breaking the record set by UK drama Bridgerton, streamed by 82 million accounts in its first 28 days.

Netflix had earlier announced the show had amassed 111 million fans, but Bloomberg said those figures were based on slightly older data.

Los Gatos, California-based Netflix estimated that 89% of people who started the show watched more than one episode, the news agency said, and 66% of the viewers finished watching the series in the first 23 days.

Netflix did not respond to requests to comment on the report.

An attorney for the company said it would be inappropriate for Bloomberg to disclose the confidential data contained in the documents it had reviewed.

The series is also the first Korean drama to snatch the top spot on Netflix in the United States, and has even spurred interest among people in learning Korean.

The show has even drawn positive comments from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, with the billionaire calling the work “impressive and inspiring”. Amazon’s streaming service Prime Video competes with Netflix.