Netflix’s Squid Game Makes SAG Awards History as First Foreign-Language TV Nominee

It’s 2022 and ‘Squid Game’ is still breaking records.

via People:

As the 2022 Screen Actors Guild Award nominations were announced on Wednesday, the hit Netflix program earned four nominations, including outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series. The Handmaid’s Tale, The Morning Show, Succession and Yellowstone are also nominated in the same category.

Squid Game is also up for outstanding action performance by a stunt ensemble in a comedy or drama television series, outstanding performance by a male actor in a drama series for star Lee Jung-jae and outstanding performance by a female actor in a drama series for star Jung Ho-yeon.

The nominations are particularly groundbreaking, marking the first non-English-language series and first Korean series to be recognized at the SAG Awards.

Squid Game, created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, follows a group of 456 debt-laden individuals competing in a series of children’s games to win a $40 million cash prize. But failing to win the games present deadly consequences for contestants.

Following its September 2021 premiere, the acclaimed series went on to become a global hit. Squid Game also is Netflix’s biggest series debut, surpassing Bridgerton’s previous viewership record on the streaming platform.

The show’s success has sparked discussions about the creation of future seasons. Though Dong-hyuk previously said season 1 “could be good closure for the whole story,” he is also aware that it “ended in an open-ended way.”

“There are some other stories in the series that have not been addressed. For example, the story of the police officer and the story of his brother, The Front Man,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in October. “So if I end up creating season 2, I’d like to explore that storyline — what is going on between those two brothers? And then I could also go into the story of that recruiter in the suit who plays the game of ddakji with Gi-hun and gives him the card in the first episode.”

The director added, “And, of course, we could go with Gi-hun’s story as he turns back, and explore more about how he’s going to navigate through his reckoning with the people who are designing the games.”

Recently, Dong-hyuk told the Associated Press he is currently “in the planning process” of developing a second Squid Game season. He then confirmed last month to Korean broadcaster KBS that he is “in talks with Netflix over season 2 as well as season 3,” according to Korea Times.

As of now, the 2022 Screen Actors Guild Awards air on Feb. 27 at 8:00 p.m. ET on TBS and TNT. But you never know with COVID.