Squid Game: The Challenge – How the new Netflix reality show compares to original Korean drama
Squid Game: The Challenge may be based on fiction, but this show is all reality as competitors compete for a cash prize of $4.56 million.
At first glance the show seems identical, with eerily similar games, rooms and a lot of contestants, who mend and break relationships to come out on top.
But how does the reality competition show actually compare to the original Korean drama it was based on?
MailOnline takes a look at the new hit Netflix reality TV show to see how it compares to Squid Game.
Green light! Squid Game: The Challenge features a challenge room and maze-like hallways eerily similar to the Korean original
Sets
The production design appears virtually identical to the original, with the show’s team carefully recreating the Squid Game world down to the smallest detail.
The confusing maze was mapped out by production designer Mathieu Weekes – who also worked on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!
Unrecognizable in the trailer as bleak, cold England, sets were built that mimicked the architecture from the original series.
From similar bunk beds to the same challenge rooms, the way the world is built will almost fool you into thinking you’re watching the original participants compete.
High stakes: The show will host 456 contestants in the new reality TV competition based on the hit Netflix show – Squid Game. The competitors will compete for a whopping $4.56 million
Close to home: Although the original is set in South Korea, part of the spin-off show was filmed at Cardington Studios in Bedford (pictured)
London is calling: Most of the reality competition show was filmed at Wharf Studios in Barking, East London (pictured)
Place
But not everything is the same. Aside from competitors walking away with their lives, the new show isn’t set in Daejeon, Korea.
For Brits, this version of Squid Game is a little closer to home, as the competition is filmed in Britain – more specifically Cardington Studios, Bedford and Wharf Studios, Barking.
Needing a space large enough to accommodate 456 participants, Netflix turned to one of Europe’s largest indoor spaces, Cardington Studios. This is where the first challenge – Red Light, Green Light – was filmed.
According to Cardington Studios, it previously housed zepplins and airships in the 1920s and 1930s. Dexterto.
The two hangers are reportedly large enough to hold four sound stages each, covering an area of more than 100,000 square feet.
Netflix said: “The total playing area from start line to finish line was approximately 100 meters x 40 meters (328 feet x 131 feet).”
According to Filming in EnglandMany blockbuster hits have been filmed at the studios, including Black Widow, Star Wars: The Return of Skywalker (Episode IX), Dumbo (2019), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
The contestants spent most of their time filming the show at Wharf Studios in London.
The show chose to film the show over 16 days at Wharf Studios in Barking, which boasts a 25-acre campus with six sound stages.
According to the studio websiteare their facilities ‘purpose built and acoustically treated, with full supporting infrastructure; including production offices, workshops, drive-in access and ample parking.”
Tough competition: The reality competition show will feature a whopping 456 contestants (pictured from Squid Game: The Challenge)
Long hours: The infamous Red Light, Green Light was reportedly filmed for six hours, with some participants leaving the show due to poor filming conditions
Allegations: One competitor came forward with claims that conditions were ‘absolutely inhumane’, claiming four people fainted during the second round of the Games
To pour
Like the original, the new reality TV show attempts to represent a range of people from different backgrounds.
The show will not be filled with models and influencers, but with normal people, who bring out the personality and add to the overall drama.
As many as 456 participants will compete for the cash prize Dextero eight have been mentioned:
- Michael Van Wijk
- Lee Taylor
- Theresa Sherron
- Marcus Harrington
- Deandre Sipthekid Smith
- Brian D. Banks
- Midge Ripoli
- Terry Myers
The IMDB page that originally cited this information is currently no longer active.
But the show was not without controversy among its contestants, with three unknown competitors speaking out against The Challenge.
According to Varietythe three claimed they had to film for hours in zero degree weather.
They emphasized that they had not signed up for a Bear Grylls or Naked and Afraid type show and were shocked by the filming conditions.
One participant described Red Light Green Light for six hours and said, “This is not a game.
‘The fun is over now. You can’t tell people to stand in sub-zero temperatures in just a tracksuit and two pairs of socks.”
A second alleged situation was ‘absolutely inhumane’, detailing four people fainting during the second round of the game.
The plaintiff said they could see a girl faint when she heard her head hit the floor, adding: ‘But then someone hit the floor [microphone] and told us to hold our positions because the game was not paused. Then people dropped like flies.
Notable games: Some challenges from the original show will also appear, including Red Light, Green Light, Sugar Honeycombs and Hopscotch
Betrayal: When a huge jackpot is at stake, competitors will resort to a ‘kill or be killed’ mentality as if their lives are actually at stake
The games
Fans of Squid Game can expect a whole host of games they’ll recognize from the original, including the infamous Red Light, Green Light, Sugar Honeycombs and Hopscotch.
But while the ‘inspired’ show will also have a whole host of new surprise additions.
The premise of the competition is also the same, with contestants also competing for a real cash prize of $4.56 million – similar to the show’s original.
And like its fictional counterpart, competitors will resort to a ‘kill or be killed’ mentality, shattering and creating alliances to hit the jackpot.
But – thankfully – unlike the original, losers will be able to leave the arena with their lives
Squid Game: The Challenge airs on Netflix on Wednesday, November 22.