The Big Picture
- Squid Game: The Challenge is a reality TV version of the scripted show that follows real people competing in dangerous versions of childhood games for a chance to win a life-changing amount of money.
- Actor Anupam Tripathi, who played a character in the original show, returned to be one of the contestants in the reality TV version. The sets are the same, but there is a roof in the reality show for shelter.
- Contestants in the reality show reportedly faced difficult conditions, such as filming in a cold airplane hanger and holding poses for extended periods. Some contestants collapsed on set, requiring medical attention.
The scripted show Squid Game showed people competing in dangerous versions of childhood games to win a life-changing amount of money. Seong Gi-hun played by Lee Jung-jae gets invited to compete and almost turns it down until he's desperate enough for the money. The series shows how the rich exploit the poor. Now Netflix is releasing a reality TV version of Squid Game: The Challenge.
The trailer shows real people competing in the same challenges that were in the scripted series. But is the competition true to the original show? Actor Anupam Tripathi, who played Jung-jae's friend, Ali Abdul was on set for Red Light, Green Light. He explained the one difference between the fictional and competition versions of the game.
Squid Game: The Challenge
Reality-TVGame ShowFollows contestants as they compete in challenges based on the Korean children's games featured on the Squid Game to win a $4.56 million cash prize.
Release Date November 22, 2023 Main Genre Reality-TV Seasons 1Anupam Tripathi Explains Whether Squid Game: The Challenge Is Real
Tripathi's fictional character didn't fare well in the game. But the actor was excited to return to the franchise and be one of the 456 players in the reality TV version. The player to survive the competition wins $4.56 million. "It’s so good to be back," he told PEOPLE. "The sets are exactly the same. It’s huge. It’s like a dream." However, there is one exception to the replica. "The only difference is that there’s a roof here," Tripathi explained. "When we were filming the show, it was in the summer and very hot in May, and something like 456 people were there. So in the hot weather, we shot that scene and everything was real. People were sweating in the show, and that was real sweat from the weather."
Squid Game started with unsuspecting people playing Red Light, Green Light. The first elimination shocked them when the robot turned around to spot the losing players. Guns came out of the walls to kill them. The scripted series had a team watch for people moving with binoculars. The losers had their "squib" explode, covering their shirt in black ink.
"My tactic was to look into the eyes of Young-hee," the actor revealed. "But it will make you dizzy also, so you have to concentrate when you have to not look at it too. You almost have to look but not look. And maintain the balance of your body too."
Tripathi's comment on how the roof affected the temperature while filming is interesting. Variety talked to contestants of the reality show who claimed they were playing the game in a cold, cavernous airplane hanger. Sometimes they reportedly had to hold their poses for 30 minutes. The original report about filming claimed several contestants collapsed on set. A contestant who goes by Marlene said medics were called multiple times.
The trailer shows the cast wearing the green uniforms as the Squid Game characters and walking into a room full of bunk beds. It teases the first game with people of all ages running to compete. But there seem to be some changes from the original show. For example, there is a battleship competition where the players sit on a ship on a life-size game board.
The first episodes of Squid Game: The Challenge became available on Netflix on November 22.
ncG1vNJzZmibn6G5qrDEq2Wcp51kwLLByJ1koJmdmnqiutSpmKZlpKe2sa3ToaBo