The first few episodes of Squid Game: The Challenge dropped on November 22. The teaser for the reality spinoff series of the Emmy Award-winning show dropped on September 22. “4.56 million dollars — people do a whole lot worse for a whole lot less,” one contestant says in the minute-long teaser for the highly-anticipated show.
Squid Game: The Challenge features 456 players who compete for $4.56 million, the largest cash prize in reality TV history. The contestants will play games from the hit series that was released in September 2021 and became Netflix’s most-watched show ever. Squid Game is returning for season 2, but Squid Game: The Challenge is unlike any other reality television show in the best way possible.
Hollywood Life has all the updates on Squid Game: The Challenge. Find out about the show’s premiere date, the alleged filming drama that went on, and more.
Squid Game: The Challenge Release Date
The first five episodes of Squid Game: The Challenge were released on November 22. The series has 10 episodes in total. Episodes 6 through 9 will premiere on November 29, and the 10th and final episode will be released on December 6.
Squid Game: The Challenge Cast
Four-hundred and fifty six contestants are going against each other in non-violent competitions to win the grand prize. Netflix opened casting up to anyone who can speak English across the world, according to Variety. The show’s executive producers include Stephen Lambert, Tim Harcourt, Toni Ireland, John Hay, Nicola Hill, and Nicola Brown, according to Deadline.
Squid Game: The Challenge Filming
Squid Game: The Challenge filmed in the United Kingdom at the beginning of 2023. On January 25, Variety reported that several contestants “required medics” on the set of the show, allegedly due to the cold weather conditions. The Sun reportedly spoke to one of the contestants who compared the conditions of the show to a “war zone.” The outlet also claimed that at least one contestant had to be taken away on a stretcher during filming.
However, Netflix denied that anyone was seriously injured on the set of the reality show. “While it was very cold on set – and participants were prepared for that – any claims of serious injury are untrue,” Netflix said in a statement. “We care deeply about the health and safety of our cast and crew, and invested in all the appropriate safety procedures.”
Squid Game: The Challenge was first announced by Netflix in June 2022, nine months after the scripted series came out. Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk had to defend the reality spinoff from fan backlash when he was doing backstage interviews at the 2022 Emmy Awards, after winning Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.
“I think that even though our show does carry quite a heavy message — and I know that there are some concerns on taking that message and creating it into a reality show with a cash prize — I feel like when you take things too seriously, that’s really not the best way to go for the entertainment industry. It doesn’t really set a great precedent,” Hwang said. “So, I would say that reproductions of such efforts are going to bring new meaning to the industry. And I hope that this is going to be a great new direction for the industry overall.”