The Money’s Good And You Probably Won’t Die: Netflix Greenlights Real Life ‘Squid Game’ Competition Series
If, while watching Squid Game, you ever thought to yourself, “I would totally be on this show if only they didn’t kill off the losers,” rest assured that your thoughts have been heard by Netflix.
Tuesday, the streamer announced that it has greenlit a reality competition series based on the hit 2021 South Korean drama. Squid Game: The Challenge will be “the biggest reality competition series ever,” according to Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s head of global TV.
The original Squid Game is a South Korean drama series in which contestants compete in a series of schoolyard games, always under the threat that if they lose, they die, all for a few billion won, a life-changing amount of money. The show has been called bleak, dystopian and political.
In the upcoming competition show, English-language speakers from around the world compete for a $4.56M cash prize – the largest cash prize for a reality series. Casting is now underway for the show, which will be produced in Great Britain, and you can sign up here, if you dare.
The contestants will compete in a series of games inspired by the show, along with some new ones dreamed up by the producers. According to Netflix, their strategies, alliances, and character will be put to the test while competitors are eliminated around them.
According to the recruitment site, “The stakes are high, but in this game the worst fate is going home empty-handed.” Or perhaps that’s just what they want you to think.
In a statement, Netflix vice president of unscripted and documentary series Brandon Riegg praised Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk and cited the series’ global success as the reason for Netflix’s decision to turn it into a reality show.
The platform announced casting for the new series on Tuesday in a vague promo with appearances from the aforementioned “Red Light, Green Light” doll and a slew of masked guards who carry out killings. But you absolutely are not going to die if you participate.
Squid Game‘s first season propelled it to huge fame, making it Netflix’s most popular show of all time, garnering 1.65 billion hours of viewing in the first four weeks of its release last fall. The service recently announced that it would get a second season.