Netflix confirms Squid Game will return for a second season

Netflix, which described the second season as ‘a whole new round’ did not provide any other details, including a premiere date
The Korean-language series premiered in September to rave reviews, becoming Netflix’s most-watched series in just 12 days, according to the streaming platform

Squid Game

Reuters

Published: 10:11am, 13 Jun 2022

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Global megahit “Squid Game” will return for a second season, Netflix Inc announced on Sunday, offering a few hints about what is to come in the dark Korean drama.

“Squid Game” became Netflix’s most-watched series when it was released in September 2021. The show tells the story of cash-strapped contestants who play childhood games for a chance of life-changing sums of money. It inspired countless memes and Halloween costumes and kick-started sales of green tracksuits.

Netflix, which described the second season as “a whole new round,” did not provide any other details, including a premiere date.

Writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk teased a few details about the show’s second season in a letter released by Netflix.

Squid Game makes history with Screen Actors Guild Award nominations

Characters Gi-hun and The Front Man will return, he said, and “the man in the suit with ddakji might be back.”

“You’ll also be introduced to Young-hee’s boyfriend,” he added.

Young-hee is a motion-sensing animatronic doll that played a deadly “red light, green light” game.

The Korean-language series became Netflix’s most-watched series in just 12 days, according to the streaming platform.

The show was nominated for three Golden Globe awards and won one: O Yeong-su for best supporting actor for playing Oh Il-nam, an elderly contestant with a brain tumour. He is the first Korean actor to win a Golden Globe.

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Lost in translation? Squid Game subtitles disappoint some Korean speakers

Bucket Studio Co., which holds a stake in the agency representing Squid Game’s lead actor, jumped nearly 24 per cent in Seoul on Monday amid a broader sell-off in Asian stocks.

The series boosted the popularity of Korean content worldwide and prompting global players including Walt Disney Co., Apple Inc. and Warner Media to invest in local-language titles and original series to lure subscribers.

Netflix is betting a second season may help stymie this year’s 70 per cent slump in shares after announcing in April that it had lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter, the first time it has shed customers since 2011. The company projected it will shrink by another 2 million customers in the second quarter.

Additional reporting by Tribune News Service, Bloomberg

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