‘Squid Game’ Will Get a Second Season, Netflix Confirms

It’s formally a inexperienced mild: “Squid Recreation,” Netflix’s breakout hit of 2021, might be getting a Season 2, co-CEO and chief content material officer Ted Sarandos affirmed.

On Netflix’s fourth quarter 2021 earnings interview, Sarandos was requested whether or not there can be a second season of the violent South Korean survival drama, which has scored as the corporate’s No. 1 most-viewed TV sequence.

“Completely,” Sarandos replied. “The ‘Squid Recreation’ universe has simply begun.”

He put “Squid Recreation” within the class of Netflix’s burgeoning bouquet of leisure franchises that the corporate sees as having progress potential outdoors the core streaming service, with reside experiences, video games and merchandise. Sarandos known as out “Bridgerton,” the second most-viewed Netflix authentic TV present, with the Season 2 set to bow in March, and “Stranger Issues,” with Season 4 slated for this summer time.

Beforehand, “Squid Recreation” creator Hwang Dong-hyuk had indicated that the hit sequence can be returning for a Season 2.

“There’s been a lot strain, a lot demand and a lot love for a second season. So I nearly really feel such as you depart us no selection!” Hwang informed the AP final fall. “However I’ll say there’ll certainly be a second season. It’s in my head proper now. I’m within the planning course of at the moment.”

Hwang additionally stated that lead actor Lee Jung-jae will return as “Squid Recreation’s” predominant character, Seong Gi-hun.

“Squid Recreation” is by a protracted shot Netflix’s biggest-ever TV present, based mostly on the streamer’s calculation that subscribers worldwide streamed 1.65 billion hours of the present within the first 28 days of its launch on the platform. In Season 1, 456 cash-strapped contestants are invited by a mysterious group to compete in a sequence of youngsters’s video games — with lethal penalties — to win a bit of the ₩45.6 billion prize pool (about $38.5 million).

The sequence made historical past on the 2022 Display Actors Guild Awards by changing into the primary non-English-language sequence and first Korean sequence to attain a nomination, for solid in a drama sequence, actor in a drama sequence (Lee Jung-jae), actress in a drama sequence (Jung Ho-yeon), and stunt ensemble.

As well as, “Squid Recreation” gained three Golden Globe Awards, together with finest TV drama, and earned O Yeong-su a supporting actor trophy. The present additionally nabbed three Critics Selection Awards nominations and a Gotham Award win for breakthrough sequence.

Netflix paid $21.4 million for the primary season of “Squid Recreation” and has estimated the sequence will ship $891 million in what it calls “influence worth,” per confidential inside knowledge that was leaked to Bloomberg.

As of the top of 2021, Netflix tallied 221.8 million subscribers globally. However shares of the paid-streaming chief plunged Thursday after the corporate forecast slower-than-expected Q1 subscriber progress and acknowledged that rivals could also be hurting buyer acquisition.