Let the games begin.
Netfix’s new reality show “Squid Game: The Challenge,” based on the hit South Korean drama, has gotten the green light — and the first trailer is officially here.
At first glance, one thing is abundantly clear: “This is a savage game,” says one of the 456 players competing for the massive $4.56 cash prize, which is easily the largest prize in reality-TV history.
And the tagline says it all: “Make friends. Make enemies. Make a million dollars.”
For some, that reward may be worth dying for, although thankfully unlike the show’s predecessor, no one loses their life on the series.
Set to the Sammy Davis Jr. track, “I Got To Be Me,” the trailer features participants donned in the iconic teal green track suit, with their numbers emblazoned on their chest, serving serious Seong Gi-hun vibes.
But things get serious quickly as the players compete in all the games audiences have come to know and love from the original, including “Red Light/Green Light,” the “Dalgona/Ppopgi” honey comb challenge and the absolutely ruthless “Glass Tile Bridge.”
“This game has to be played with strategy,” says one woman.
Another adds: “You can’t trust anybody in here.”
But in reality, things have not be all fun and games for the contestants. In February, news broke that competitors had reportedly renamed the competition series the “Rigged Game.”
“I’m shaking, and I’m talking about, like, I’m-on-top-of-Mount-Everest-and-I’ve-got-nothing-on shaking,” one of four people claiming to be competing on the season told Rolling Stone. (They also described themselves as TV “extras.”)
“It was just the cruelest, meanest thing I’ve ever been through,” one former player said about the experience. “We were a human horse race, and they were treating us like horses out in the cold racing, and [the race] was fixed.”
Netflix has previously denied the allegations.
“While it was very cold on set — and participants were prepared for that — any claims of serious injury are untrue,” Netflix and producers Studio Lambert and The Garden said in a recent statement, Deadline reported. “We care deeply about the health and safety of our cast and crew, and invested in all the appropriate safety procedures.”
“Any suggestion that the competition is rigged or claims of serious harm to players are simply untrue,” producers claimed. “We’ve taken all the appropriate safety precautions, including aftercare for contestants—and an independent adjudicator is overseeing each game to ensure it’s fair to everyone.”
“Squid Game: The Challenge” debuts on Netflix on Nov. 22. The series will run for 10 episodes dropping weekly with the finale set to air on Dec. 6.
