We knew making a real-life version of Squid Game was always going to be a challenge. Leave it to Netflix to take the assignment extremely literally by producing Squid Game The Challenge. Even before its launch date on November 22, the show has grabbed headlines for possible injuries and brutal play conditions. Netflix is no stranger to danger in reality TV, having produced extreme competitions such as Outlast, Physical 100 and Love Is Blind. However, they’ve never done anything at this scale before. They’re bringing in the same number of contestants as the fictional show (456) and building sets instead of using CGI. They’re even offering a bigger prize: $4,560,000 USD, as compared to the original 4,560,000,000 Korean Won (and was in a fictional show). With such high expectations, Netflix had better deliver an experience that redefines what reality TV is. Let’s review Squid Game The Challenge: Everything To Know.
Squid Game The Challenge — Info About Cast, Premiere Date And Episode Release Dates
Squid Game creator looking at the set for Squid Game The Challenge alongside an actor from the original drama (Netflix).
The competition begins on November 22nd, and will continue for two weeks, with new episodes dropping on the 22nd, the 29th, and the Dec. 6th. There will be a total of 10 episodes in the season. We also know that the cast will be drawn from around the world, with the only caveat being that they have to speak English. Netflix did the recruiting and casting of the 456 contestants themselves. They recruited one group of contestants from the USA, one from the UK, and a third from everywhere else. Contestants had to submit a one minute video explaining why they wanted to be on the show and a photo. Contestants had to be at least 21, hold a valid passport and couldn’t have been employed by Netflix/A3 media group. If they didn’t make the cut, they could have been recruited for other Netflix projects in the future.
We have the names of some contestants from the show’s IMDB page, including Michael Van Wijk, Lee Taylor, and Theresa Sherron. Other names include Marcus Harrington, Deandre Sipthekid Smith, Brian D. Banks, Midge Ripoli, and Terry Myers.
Step onto the set of Squid Game: The Challenge with a behind-the-scenes tour featuring the director of Squid Game, Hwang Dong-hyuk and special guest Anupam Tripathi! ? #GeekedWeek pic.twitter.com/tEE1ApsxkG
— Netflix (@netflix) November 9, 2023
Squid Game The Challenge — The Show Is Produced By Studio Lambert
UK-based Studio Lambert is heading up the project, which shot in the UK instead of South Korea. Studio Lambert has produced The Circle for Netflix and is also behind reality standouts The Traitors and Undercover Boss. Studio head Stephen Lambert and creative director Tim Harcourt have shared some details of what we can expect from the show. “The conventional wisdom is that you can’t make an unscripted show with more than 20. Because the viewer won’t know who anyone is or care about anyone,” he said. So, Harcourt says Lambert chose to go in a direction where “the show focuses on around 30 to 40 players plus ‘peripherals.'” That means there will be a ton of editing, so expect cast members to complain about bad edits. Lambert also tells us to forget traditional reality heroes and villains, because the show will feature “three-dimensional, morally complex” contestants.
Squid Game The Challenge — Games And Costumes From The Series Will Reappear
The cast will have to play through some iconic challenges that will be familiar for fans of the series. Through 10 episodes, the contestants will have to play “Red Light, Green Light,” where they can only move if a giant creepy doll is looking away. “Sugar Honeycombs” will involve carving out a shape from a honeycomb background using a needle. Players have to complete the shape without breaking the honeycomb and there is also a time limit. “Marbles” involves playing a series of smaller games against a partner to try and win all of their marbles. “Glass Stepping Stones” is a version of hopscotch where players have to cross a bridge by jumping between glass platforms. Some of the glass platforms can support a person’s weight, and others will break if jumped upon — but players didn’t know which was which.
Because this is Squid Game we’re talking about, we have to clarify that losing contestants are not killed. Thankfully we aren’t returning to ancient Rome.
Instead, they’ll get tagged with squid ink-like black paint. They’ll also be wearing the same identical numbered green jumpsuits the actors playing the contestants wore for the series. The original Squid Game series only had six games, and there will be more in the show. If you’ve watched the series, you know that all Squid Game challenges are based on children’s games. So expect more deadly twists on this theme. In the trailer for the show, we can see the contestants trying to pull stuffed blue bears out of a crane game, and participating in a life-size game of Battleship.
Squid Game The Challenge — There Have Been Reports Of Injuries And Hard Conditions
Have you ever watched a scripted Netflix show where the villains turn people getting hurt or inconvenienced into an opportunity? Or they have to spin some foreseeable disaster to their advantage? Unrelatedly, there have been reports of contestants being injured on Squid Game The Challenge. Reports back in January claimed that three contestants had been hurt in unspecified ways. Apparently, during the Red Light Green Light challenge, contestants were standing in extremely cold temperatures. “Even if hypothermia kicked in then people were willing to stay for as long as possible because a lot of money was on the line,” an anonymous contestant was quoted as saying. Of course it was not confirmed if any contestants actually contracted hypothermia. Another source said, “People were getting carried out by medics but we couldn’t say anything […] Some were crawling by the end. At least one was carried out on a stretcher.”
However Netflix has countered by saying that they had “invested in all the appropriate safety procedures” and that nobody was seriously hurt. They’ve also flatly denied that anyone was badly hurt and that “any claims of serious injury are untrue.” At this point it almost can’t be properly called a Netflix show unless there’s some legal action or if a contestant is in danger. Everything from the latest seasons of Love Is Blind to The Ultimatum have featured some sort of abuse scenario or accusations. It looks like in their pursuit of pushing the envelope, Netflix has blurred the line between fantasy and reality.
