Lead actor Lee Jung-jae at the screening of “Squid Game” in Los Angeles, 2021.
Photo: Getty Images, Frazer Harrison. All rights reserved.
Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos has officially announced the sequel to Squid Game. After the release of its first season, the South Korean survival drama became the highest-grossing Netflix series of all time.
“The Squid Game universe is just beginning,” with these words Sarandos announced the second season of “Squid Game”. The director of the series, Hwang Dong-hyuk, has also talked about a sequel to the show in the past. A possible third season was also mentioned. Now, however, the continuation of the surprise hit has been officially confirmed for the first time by a managing director of the streaming platform.
It was also recently announced that 25 South Korean series will be released on Netflix this year. The decisive factor for this decision was the success of the South Korean film “Parasite” at the Oscars 2020 with four awards, including “Best Picture”. This marked a “tipping point” for the international breakthrough of Korean film productions, according to Sarandos.
Commenting on the triumph of “Squid Game,” the Netflix CEO also said, “There was no attempt to adapt the show for global appeal, but rather an attempt was made to carve out various aspects of South Korean films and series, and to expand them and new levels to add to the production”.
Sarandos adds, “It’s not like we had to teach anyone in South Korea how to create great content. It’s an incredible market for that. There’s always been curiosity around the world [der] K-Drama market has had global success before, but there [südkoreanische Produktionen auf Netflix] are so easily accessible, they are now also mainstream”.