The hugely popular Netflix series, 'Squid Game,' has been adapted into a real-life reality competition.
During Tudum: A Global Fan Event, which was broadcast live from São Paulo, Brazil, Netflix shared the first official look and teaser for the upcoming reality competition, Squid Game: The Challenge. The new series is based on the popular Korean-language and Emmy-winning thriller and will see real people vying for a cash prize in what the streaming platform is claiming to be "the biggest reality competition series ever."
In the 30-second clip that debuted during the Netflix convention, audiences got a brief taste of the intense competition to come. "This November, the world's most notorious game becomes reality," the footage read as it showed footage of Squid Game's now-iconic sets being reconstructed for real people. The teaser also showed some of the contestants entering the arena for the first child's game, Red Light, Green Light, with Young-hee, the motion-sensing animatronic killer doll returning after first appearing in season 1 of the scripted series.
According to Netflix, 456 real-life contestants will compete in a series of games inspired by the original show as well as some "surprising new additions" as they vie to win "a life-changing reward of $4.56 million." In order to make it through to the finish, their strategies, alliances and personal character will be tested as each of them are eliminated one by one.
"The stakes are high, but in this game the worst fate is going home empty-handed," the platform teased when the 10-episode reality series was first announced in 2022.
The first look at Squid Game: The Challenge also comes several months after The Sun reported that the contestants were forced to compete in subzero temperatures and that life on set felt like a war zone. Variety then got firsthand accounts from eliminated participants, who detailed the extreme conditions they endured while trying to make it to the next rounds.
At the time, Netflix and Studio Lambert, which is co-producing the series with The Garden, issued a statement about claims made in those articles. "We care deeply about the health of our cast and crew, and the quality of this show. Any suggestion that the competition is rigged or claims of serious harm to players are simply untrue. We’ve taken all the appropriate safety precautions, including after care for contestants -- and an independent adjudicator is overseeing each game to ensure it’s fair to everyone," they said.
The reality version of Squid Game, meanwhile, comes ahead of the anticipated second season in executive producer Hwang Dong-hyuk's series about ordinary people forced to enter a secret competition, where they could either win a massive cash prize or lose their life.
At the center of it is a divorced father and gambler, Seong Gi-hun (played by Lee Jung-jae, who won an Emmy for season 1), who unexpectedly outwits and outlasts his fellow competitors until he makes it the end and discovers there is far more to the games than he originally thought. Season 1 also starred Park Hae-soo as Cho Sang-woo, Wi Ha-joon as Hwang Jun-ho, Jung Ho-yeon as Kang Sae-byeok, O Yeong-su as Oh Il-nam, Heo Sung-tae as Jang Deok-su, Anupam Tripathi as Ali Abdul and Kim Joo-ryoung as Han Mi-nyeo.
When season 2 was first announced, it was revealed that in addition to Gi-hun coming back, the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) will be back while audiences will be introduced to Young-hee’s boyfriend, Cheol-su.
Squid Game: The Challenge premieres in November on Netflix.
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