Netflix milks one of its favorite cash cows even drier with release date for the prequel spin-off to a smash hit series that’s already been remade

There’s nothing wrong with Netflix building out as many of its most popular properties as possible in practice, but when you break Berlin down to its bare essence, then it might start to look as though there might just be too much of a good thing.

Pedro Alonso’s Money Heist favorite Andrés de Fonollosa will return for his own prequel, where he’ll pick up the baton as the orchestrator behind an elaborate heist. That makes Berlin the spin-off to a series that didn’t just run for multiple seasons of its own, but even got a remake via Korea’s Joint Economic Area.

All that, and the Spanish-language sensation wasn’t even a Netflix original to begin with, having first aired on local network Antena 3 before being acquired by the platform and transformed into an international phenomenon. On the plus side, we now know when Berlin will land, with the announcement teaser confirming a Dec. 29 debut.

It’s easy to see why the franchise must continue when Money Heist became one of Netflix’s all-time Top 10 most-watched exclusives no less than three times over, and one of its most popular characters taking center stage is about the smartest method of generating interest.

Will it be any good? That’s entirely up for debate, seeing as Joint Economic Area wasn’t all that great and the main show did get a little too overwrought for its own good towards the end, but maybe narrowing the focus will turn out to be a masterstroke and the gateway to even more Money Heist to come.