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(Bloomberg) – Korean entertainment world’s latest smash hit “Squid Game” is also proving popular with investors, who have taken stock in at least two companies linked to the thriller series.
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A dramatized survival game in the vein of “The Hunger Games,” the show currently tops the global charts on Netflix Inc., and is the first Korean drama to claim the top spot in the United States on the service, according to the TV show. streaming rating company Flix Patrol.
Bucket Studio Co., which owns a stake in the agency representing Squid Game lead actor Lee Jung-Jae, has jumped about 90% in the three trading sessions through Monday. Showbox Corp. – whose predecessor had invested in Siren Pictures, the show’s private production company – has jumped by more than 50%.
Bucket Studio is only an indirect beneficiary of “Squid Game,” and Showbox’s connection is also uncertain as Siren Pictures is 100% owned by CEO Kim Ji-Yeon, according to a note by analyst Douglas Kim on Smartkarma. Still, Korean film and television production stocks could outperform over the next 2-3 years relative to the country’s global demand for entertainment content, he said.
“Squid Game” depicts a group of people with huge debts participating in a series of deadly games to win cash prizes. Its portrayal of the battle between the haves and have-nots also drew comparisons to the Oscar-winning black comedy “Parasite,” which helped boost the shares of its producer CJ ENM Co. last year.
CJ ENM rose on Monday with Showbox, Bucket Studio and others such as Studio Dragon Co., whose “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha” series ranked No. 7 on Netflix globally, according to FlixPatrol.
Korean companies can produce “very popular dramas and films that could pose a serious competitive threat to the Hollywood powers,” Kim said. “‘Squid Game’ is a very good example of that,” he said.
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