A new reality competition series based on Squid Game is heading to Netflix
Break out the dalgona candy (but definitely, definitely don't break them...)
Squid Game fans will soon have an opportunity to try on the green jumpsuit themselves, if they dare. Netflix has green-lit a new reality series, Squid Game: The Challenge, based on the breakout dystopian drama.
Netflix’s head of global TV, Bela Bajaria, announced the big news on Tuesday at the Banff World Media Festival in Alberta, Canada, per Variety. Advertised by Netflix as the “biggest reality competition series ever,” 450 players will compete for a prize of $4.56 million dollars.
A Squid Game-based reality series seems to immediately beg two questions: 1) How are they playing this? and 2) Who is playing this? Without spoiling too much (although, by goodness, it’s been a year), the original Squid Game follows a group of players who enter a mysterious reality competition in the hopes of winning big bucks, only to realize the consequences for not winning are both brutal and deadly.
Of course, Squid Game: The Challenge won’t actually be deadly. “The stakes are high, but in this game the worst fate is going home empty-handed,” the casting website states, assuring potential participants their life isn’t literally on the line in this version of the competition.
The rest of the competition formatting, however—from the random challenges to the large number of contestants—appears to remain the same. The 10-episode first season is currently holding castings around the world, seeking “English-language speakers from any part of the world” to join in. The series will be filmed in the U.K., per Variety.
“Squid Game took the world by storm with Director Hwang [Dong-Hyuk]’s captivating story and iconic imagery. We’re grateful for his support as we turn the fictional world into reality in this massive competition and social experiment,” said Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s VP of unscripted and documentary Series, per Variety. “Fans of the drama series are in for a fascinating and unpredictable journey as our 456 real world contestants navigate the biggest competition series ever, full of tension and twists, with the biggest ever cash prize at the end.”