'Squid Game' being made into non-fatal reality show for Netflix with $4.56m winnings

The new series, titled 'Squid Game: The Challenge', is a 10-episode competition inspired by the South Korean hit

Green light, red light game played in 'Squid Game'. Photo: Netflix

A scene from 'Squid Game'.

In the Netflix show, participants die when they fail to complete the games.

Oh Yeong-su plays Oh Il-nam, an elderly man with a brain tumour.

Jung HoYeon and Heo Sung-tae play characters who risk their lives to compete for the prize money.

Lee Jung-jae as lead character Seong Gi-hun, a gambling addict.

Anupam Tripathi as Pakistani worker Ali Abdul.

The show has been a runaway hit for Netflix since it premiered on September 21.

In 'Squid Game', players compete in adapted versions of popular children’s playground games in the hope of freeing themselves from financial burden.

Jung HoYeon plays a North Korean defector in the series.

Masked enforcers ensure losers from each game are duly eliminated.

Netflix's most-watched series is no longer only a fictitious television show after the streaming service greenlit "its biggest reality competition ever" called Squid Game: The Challenge.

Unlike the series where the stakes are life or death, the worst possible fate in this 456-player competition will be leaving without the $4.56 million winnings, which Netflix claims is the largest lump sum prize in reality TV history.

Squid Game became Netflix's most-watched series when it was released in September 2021. It told the story of cash-strapped contestants who play popular Korean children's games for a chance to win life-changing sums of money.

The first season holds the record as Netflix’s most popular series of all time, with more than 1.65 billion hours viewed in its first 28 days, the company said.

The 10-episode reality competition will include games inspired by the original show, as well as new additions, Netflix said.

One of YouTube’s top US creators, MrBeast, did an unofficial iteration of this idea by recreating aspects of the South Korean drama’s set and hosting games featured in the show, such as Red Light, Green Light. The YouTuber also opted out of the killing aspect but strapped a device to all 456 players that mimicked a bullet fired when a player was ruled out.

Netflix’s reality show will be filmed in the UK and is currently only casting English speakers.

The announcement comes only days after the scripted series was renewed for a second season.

“And now, Gi-hun returns,” director, writer and executive producer Hwang Dong-hyuk wrote in a letter to fans. “The Front Man returns. Season 2 is coming.”

Hwang revealed teasers about new characters and developments in his letter for season two.

“The man in the suit with ddakji might be back,” he wrote, referring to the mysterious man who recruits players.

Viewers will also meet Cheol-su, the “boyfriend” of Young-hee, the show's much-recognisable animatronic doll.

— The National contributed to this report

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