Netflix makes Squid Game reality show with $4.56m prize

Netflix is making a real-life version of “Squid Game” and opening up the action to contestants around the world.

Netflix is making a real-life version of “Squid Game” and opening up the action to contestants around the world.

The streamer announced a 10-episode reality competition based on the dystopian South Korean drama. In the original series, people desperate for money compete in playground-style games and losers die in grisly ways.

The non-lethal reality competition will feature what Netflix claims is the largest cast and cash prize in the history of the genre. In “Squid Game: The Challenge,” 456 contestants will compete for $4.56 million in winnings.

Contestants in the fictional Squid Game were killed if they failed.

The streamer made the announcement two days after confirming that a second season of the violent original hit is in the works. In the first season of the show created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, star Lee Jung-jae played a man who — clad in a tracksuit as contestant No. 456 — survives deadly versions of tug of war and red light-green light.

Netflix referred to that premise in a slogan for the new show: “The stakes are high, but in this game the worst fate is going home empty-handed,” it said on a casting website where potential competitors are invited to apply.

Players in Squid Game were desperate for money.

Unlike the hit that spawned it, the reality spin-off of “Squid Game” will be shot in the United Kingdom. The casting site stipulated that the competition was open to “English-language speakers from any part of the world.” The runaway success of “Squid Game” demonstrated Netflix’s ability to turn local productions into global hits. Netflix said “Squid Game” is its most popular series ever, and accumulated more than 1.65 billion viewing hours in the first 28 days after premiere.

However, as it weathers a loss of subscribers and pressure from investors, Netflix has moved to trim its massive spending on production and develop more high-quality shows and movies. At the same time, the streamer is trying to extend the life of its biggest existing hits.

The company split the fourth and penultimate season of “Stranger Things” into two parts, with the second instalment premiering in July. Netflix said Tuesday that “Stranger Things” season 4 was its most-watched English-language TV season ever, with more than 780 million viewing hours since its May 27 premiere.