Netflix revealed a first look at Squid Game: The Challenge, it’s upcoming reality competition series based on the first season of the blockbuster Korean dystopian drama series Squid Game, which has been billed as the “biggest competition ever.”
In The Challenge, 456 players from around the world play a series of games inspired by Squid Game for prize of $4.56 million.
As you can see from the trailer below, the sets and challenges look exactly like the original show. Yet there are gameplay differences — at one point contestants are surprised by an announcement they’re going to vote out two people, something that never happened in the drama series.
While The Challenge is the non-fatal version of the Squid Game story format, the production nonetheless generated controversy with contestants alleging to The Sun tabloid that they were mistreated during the Red Light-Green Light challenge after they had to stand motionless for hours in freezing weather. “It was like a war zone … some people couldn’t move their feet because it was so cold. … Some were crawling by the end. At least one was carried out on a stretcher.” Netflix and producers denied any wrongdoing: “While it was very cold on set — and participants were prepared for that — any claims of serious injury are untrue.”
The show’s official description reads: “As they compete through a series of games inspired by the original show — plus surprising new additions — their strategies, alliances, and character will be put to the test while competitors are eliminated around them.”
The Challenge is 10 episodes and produced by Studio Lambert (whose U.K. series Naked Attraction recently garnered some U.S. headlines after Max imported the series) and The Garden.
Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ Reality Show Trailer Looks Just Like ‘Squid Game’
