Netflix’s “Beef” won big at the much-delayed 2023 Emmys with eight awards, but the future of the limited series is still in the air.
“I feel like there are so many paths. It could stay limited — it was a very close-ended story for sure. But if Netflix wanted to continue, it could also be anthology,” series creator Lee Sung Jin told reporters backstage at the Emmys. “It could be many things. It’s up to the great algorithm. We’re all waiting to hear.”
In November, it was announced that Lee, who also goes by Sonny Lee, signed a multi-year overall deal with Netflix, which covers both film and television projects that he may develop.
On the red carpet before the Emmys ceremony, “Beef” star Steven Yeun told Variety‘s Marc Malkin he has “no clue” about a second season and said, “I defer to Sonny on all fronts.”
If “Beef” were to go on despite being billed as a limited series, it wouldn’t be without precedent. Take “The White Lotus,” which this year won five Emmys and competed in the drama categories for Season 2 after previously winning 10 awards as a limited series.
Yeun starred alongside Ali Wong, Young Mazino and Maria Bello in “Beef,” which follows two revenge-thirsty people after a road rage incident. Yeun and Wong both won acting awards at the Emmys, Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards, while Bello also took home a Globe for supporting actress in a limited series.
While accepting the Emmy for best limited series, Lee thanked those who “watched the show and reached out about their own personal struggles.”
“A lot of the suicidal ideation in this show was based on stuff that I and some of the folks up here have struggled with over the years,” he said.