Netflix
Hwang Dong-hyuk's biting commentary on capitalism made for a highly compelling watch and landed Netflix the biggest hit of the company's lifetime, surpassing even Stranger Things in popularity. While Netflix obviously isn't about to gun down contestants (the world hasn't become that dystopian yet), the unscripted Squid Game between over 400 real people could make for an equally compelling experience.
"Squid Game took the world by storm with Director Hwang's captivating story and iconic imagery. We're grateful for his support as we turn the fictional world into reality in this massive competition and social experiment," said Brandon Riegg, Netflix VP of Unscripted and Documentary Series. "Fans of the drama series are in for a fascinating and unpredictable journey as our 456 real-world contestants navigate the biggest competition series ever, full of tension and twists, with the biggest ever cash prize at the end."
According to Netflix, anyone interested in being a candidate can head to its registration site for the chance to compete for a $4.5 million prize. While contestants can come from anywhere worldwide, speaking English is a prerequisite because the game's instructions are communicated via a loudspeaker, similar to the show.
While those from the show inspire the challenges the contestants will face, the company has also teased new additions. Few other details are available, however.
There's no denying that a Squid Game reality competition show has the potential to be a massive hit for Netflix, especially given the show's unscripted nature and the worldwide recruitment drive for contestants. Squid Game has some serious staying power, with memes circulating on social media and merchandise (official and bootleg alike) still prominent on the pop-up stands of many American malls.
That isn't to say that the show will be a guaranteed slam dunk for Netflix, however.
As Passport to Wall Street's David Fladger notes, the original Squid Game is a "one-two" punch of "low costs and high popularity." Staying power aside, Squid Game: The Challenge likely won't be as cheap as Squid Game was to produce.
Aside from prize money, the costs to produce an unscripted show to the scale that Netflix seeks will likely run higher than Squid Game due to the resources required to bring the challenges to life. Whereas in a scripted production, sets only need to look like the real thing, Netflix will inevitably need to create those same challenges to be fully functional and will need to maintain them amid an unscripted production that has a greater possibility of going off-schedule.
Netflix isn't in the best position as a streaming market player either, suffering from subscriber losses and facing lawsuits from investors who have alleged the firm misled them about subscriber losses. Recovering from those subscriber losses isn't going as well as the company has hoped, with password sharing crackdowns going poorly and many consumers reacting negatively to constant price hikes and the low quality of most of Netflix's other properties.
Would a successful Squid Game: The Challenge be able to make back its production costs and then some? Absolutely, and it could keep the hype alive until season 2 drops. However, investors should be wary about the strong headwinds Netflix will still face in the future.
