Latest news with #SquidGame:TheChallenge
Metro
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
'It's a hell of a ride!' Your favourite shows like Squid Game
Squid Game is back for a third season, and fans are no doubt binge-watching the hit Korean drama at breakneck speed. Which means many will already be looking for a similarly high-stakes, morally complex series to watch next. And while reality shows like Netflix's Squid Game: The Challenge and MrBeast's Beast Games have tried to capture the essence, the Squid Game creator has admitted they leave a 'bitter taste'. Fortunately, the world of streaming is rich with gripping K-dramas and survival thrillers that scratch the same itch — and several viewers have taken to Reddit to share their favourite Squid Game alternatives. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. A user calling themselves ed_five suggested Netflix drama The 8 Show. Explaining the premise, they wrote: 'Eight people agree to a game show where they don't know the rules. I have to warn you, it gets very dark.' And TommyRobotX added of the Korean series: 'Despite the lower stakes, they somehow made it harder to watch (anxiety) than Squid Game.' Meanwhile, Dazzling_Pipe_9910 also mentioned The 8 Show, but preferred revenge thriller The Glory. They said: 'I watched The 8 Show and The Glory after Season 2 of Squid Game…The Glory is definitely worth watching and has left a lasting impression. I'd recommend.' Another user, Pettyyoungthing, suggested Alice in Borderland, which proved to be a huge hit on Netflix when it was first released in 2020. They explained: '[It's a] Japanese show where [people] get stuck in a mix of Hunger Games and Squid Game type scenario. Hijinx ensue'. And ChattyWalker suggested dark thriller Bargain, on Paramount Plus, writing: 'It's a hell of a ride! Only 6 episodes, unfortunately, but a nice binge.' One user suggested 3%, a Brazilian series available on Netflix. Explaining the plot, they wrote: 'The majority of the population live on the improvised 'inland' and, at the age of 20, people compete to become the 3% of humanity that gets to live in the affluent 'offshore' community.' A K-drama that's received lots of comparisons to Squid Game, The 8 Show focuses on eight strangers, each facing serious financial trouble, who agree to join a dangerous reality TV show as a way of earning money. Reviews are mixed, with the show earning a respectable 75% score on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics, compared to a 66% Audience Score. One impressed audience member wrote: 'I watched the entire series in 24 hours, a first for me. I found it impossible to stop watching. The cliffhangers were great, the suspense was at a fever pitch, and the social commentary was spot on. Good comic relief as well. Highly recommend.' Another said: 'Excellent show! Every episode is unexpected and surprising. A more deep and shocking Squid Game. This show will make you reflect on the society and on human nature.' Where to watch: Stream all eight episodes on Netflix. Years after surviving being brutally bullied in high school, teacher Moon Dong-eun devises a calculated plan to make her abusers pay for what they did, unravelling their now successful lives from within. The Glory received praise from critics, with the San Francisco Chronicle writing in their review: 'Visually arresting and carefully constructed, The Glory sharpens its central theme to a fine point.' Audiences were also impressed, with viewers taking to Rotten Tomatoes to hail The Glory as 'captivating', 'beautiful' and 'a slow-burn masterpiece'. Where to watch: Stream all 16 episodes on Netflix. This Japanese sci-fi series follows 'an aimless gamer and his two friends [who] find themselves in a parallel Tokyo, where they're forced to compete in a series of sadistic games to survive'. The show, which has been compared to Squid Game in the past and even achieved a higher Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes, has proved itself a hit with both fans and critics. 'This sprawling Japanese manga adaptation is rarely subtle, but its ability to deliver on wide-scale expectations make it a true TV standout,' IndieWire wrote in a season two review. Meanwhile, Google reviewer Sarah wrote: 'This is one of the best TV series I have ever watched! Season one reminded me a lot of Squid Game mixed with a little bit of Hunger Games but leaves off with a better cliffhanger.' A highly anticipated third season of Alice in Borderland is coming to Netflix in September 2025. Where to watch: Seasons 1 and 2 are available on Netflix. Described as 'addictive' in The Guardian's four-star review, Bargain is set in a remote hotel in Korea where human organs are auctioned off to the highest bidder. A synopsis adds: 'After a catastrophic earthquake, the victims, traffickers and buyers are all trapped inside the crumbling building. Cut off from the outside world, they must fight to survive the aftermath at any cost. With a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, the show has impressed critics, who have described it as 'engrossing', 'wildly unpredictable' and 'gloriously vicious'. Where to watch: All six episodes are available to stream on Paramount Plus. There are four seasons to binge of this Brazilian show, which is set in a future society where most of the population lives in poverty. But, every year, each 20-year-old gets one chance to join the privileged 3%, who have been saved from squalor and now live in a utopian paradise. More Trending The show has a very respectable 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising its twists and strong characters. Screen Rant wrote in their review: 'When 3% isn't making thoughtful observations about the human race and how we wall ourselves off from one another, it's dazzling you with clever moments and genuinely shocking twists all designed to keep you hopelessly hooked.' And Refinery29 said: 'The Brazilian show will itch the Hunger Games scratch, but still add an entirely new element of excitement.' View More » Where to watch: Seasons 1 to 4 are available to stream on Netflix. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Netflix WWE SmackDown live stream cuts out with millions unable to watch MORE: WWE Night of Champions 2025 preview with early UK start time on Netflix MORE: TV fans torn between bingeing Netflix hit series or 'anxiety-inducing' drama this weekend
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
'Squid Game' features a bizarre cameo in its series finale. Here's what it means for the franchise's future.
The "Squid Game" season three finale has an emotional ending for its main characters. A cameo from a major celebrity hints that another season or show may be in the works. Here's how the show ends and what we know about the show's future. Warning: spoilers ahead for "Squid Game" season three. "Squid Game" season three has an explosive, tear-jerking ending that wraps up Seong Gi-hun's story, but a brief cameo in the finale opens the door for a whole new spin-off. The show's first two seasons, about people in huge amounts of debt competing in a competition of lethal games, are the first and third most-watched series on Netflix. The streaming platform has already capitalized on the show's popularity by making a spin-off reality show, " Squid Game: The Challenge," and releasing related merchandise and experiences. But Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of the "Squid Game," has been adamant in interviews that the main show will end in three seasons, no matter how much fans love it. "The story I wanted to tell came to a full closure at the end of season 3," Hwang told Entertainment Weekly in December. Season three directly follows the ending of season two, in which Seong Gi-hun, the lead character who won the competition in season one, participates in a second version of the games. In the season two finale, he attempts to overthrow the game makers with fellow players, but the rebellion fails, and almost all the rebels are killed. Gi-hun makes a bold sacrifice to save the life of a newborn baby In season three, the game makers force Gi-hun to continue playing, leaving him bitter, angry, and hopeless. After his former ally, Kim Jun-hee, suddenly gives birth in one of the games, Gi-hun is persuaded to look after her and the baby. After Jun-hee dies, the game makers make the baby take over her role as the player, which puts a target on Gi-hun and the infant. In the final game, Gi-hun and the baby survive as the final two, but one must die to finish the game. Gi-hun sacrifices himself so the baby can live, and Gi-hun's leftover money from winning the games in season one is given to his daughter in America. Gi-hun's last words, "We are not horses. We are humans. Humans are…" refer to a comment made in season one that the players are treated like horses. After Gi-hun's death, the rest of the season finale wraps up character arcs for the other main characters. Hwang Jun-ho, a detective who tried to help Gi-hun stop the games, finally makes it to the games' island, but he is too late to save anyone, and the game organizers evacuate. Jun-ho confronts his brother, In-ho, the leader of the games, but the brother walks away from him with the baby. Six months later, Jun-ho finds the baby and the prize money in his apartment. Choi Woo-seok, arrested after trying to help Jun-ho find the games' island, is released around the same time and plans to open a hotel. Cheol, the brother of Sae-byeok from the first season, is reunited with his mother. Meanwhile, No-eul, one of the guards who helps a player escape, discovers her missing daughter is in China. The biggest surprise happens in the final few seconds. In-ho, who gave Gi-hun's money and belonging to his daughter, is being driven through LA when he sees a woman and a man playing Ddjaki in an alleyway. She is played by two-time Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett and is another recruiter for the games. Cate Blanchett's cameo may be teasing a new spin-off On the one hand, the cameo could be teasing that the show will continue into a fourth season. But season three has been advertised as the final season, so it's more likely it's teasing an American spin-off of "Squid Game," which may have a different showrunner. Rumors have spread as early as 2023 that Netflix was planning a US remake of "Squid Game," with David Fincher developing the show. The streaming platform has not confirmed this. Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hwang has also offered other spin-off ideas in recent interviews with Metro and Entertainment Weekly that focus on In-ho and his employees, the recruiter (Gong Yoo), and Captain Park (Oh Dal-su), during the three-year gap between the games in seasons one and two.
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Squid Game: will there be season 4 on Netflix? Explained
Squid Game fans have been given an update on the show's future 🚨📺 Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Squid Game's third season is finally out on Netflix. It arrives just six months after the second series. But will there be more episodes of the show? Squid Game has finally returned for its third season - picking up after the dramatic end to the episodes released over Christmas last year. Viewers are finally able to dive in and binge them all. Player 456 is back and will be continuing his quest to end the titular games for good. The creator of the series has ominously promised there will not be a 'happy ending' to the story. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad You might be wondering if more is planned for the show. Here's all you need to know: Will there be a Squid Game season 4? Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game S3 | No Ju-han/Netflix The show premiered back in 2021 and quickly took the world by storm. After a lengthy wait it finally returned for a second series on Boxing Day 2024 - with the third season arriving today (June 27), just six months later. However it has previously been announced that Squid Game will be concluding with its third and final season. But it might not totally be the end of the world of the show - as a spin-off has been teased. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Hwang Dong-hyuk, creator of the hit series, has floated an idea for exploring the three-year gap that takes place between Squid Game's first two seasons. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly he said: 'I actually had this faint ideation about possibly a spinoff — not a sequel, but maybe a spinoff about the three-year gap between season 1 and season 2 when Gi-hun [Lee Jung-jae] looks around for the recruiters. 'There is that three-year period, and maybe I could have a portrayal of what the recruiters or Captain Park [Oh Dal-su] or officers or masked men were doing in that period, not inside the gaming arena, but their life outside of that. So that is some vague ideation that I have that could possibly be developed in the future." Netflix's spin-off reality show Squid Game: The Challenge, which was released between November and December 2023, will be back in the future. A second season of the show has been announced by the streaming service. Have you got a story you want to share with our readers? You can now send it to us online via YourWorld at . It's free to use and, once checked, your story will appear on our website and, space allowing, in our newspapers.
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Squid Game: will there be season 4 on Netflix? Explained
Squid Game fans have been given an update on the show's future 🚨📺 Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Squid Game's third season is finally out on Netflix. It arrives just six months after the second series. But will there be more episodes of the show? Squid Game has finally returned for its third season - picking up after the dramatic end to the episodes released over Christmas last year. Viewers are finally able to dive in and binge them all. Player 456 is back and will be continuing his quest to end the titular games for good. The creator of the series has ominously promised there will not be a 'happy ending' to the story. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad You might be wondering if more is planned for the show. Here's all you need to know: Will there be a Squid Game season 4? Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game S3 | No Ju-han/Netflix The show premiered back in 2021 and quickly took the world by storm. After a lengthy wait it finally returned for a second series on Boxing Day 2024 - with the third season arriving today (June 27), just six months later. However it has previously been announced that Squid Game will be concluding with its third and final season. But it might not totally be the end of the world of the show - as a spin-off has been teased. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Hwang Dong-hyuk, creator of the hit series, has floated an idea for exploring the three-year gap that takes place between Squid Game's first two seasons. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly he said: 'I actually had this faint ideation about possibly a spinoff — not a sequel, but maybe a spinoff about the three-year gap between season 1 and season 2 when Gi-hun [Lee Jung-jae] looks around for the recruiters. 'There is that three-year period, and maybe I could have a portrayal of what the recruiters or Captain Park [Oh Dal-su] or officers or masked men were doing in that period, not inside the gaming arena, but their life outside of that. So that is some vague ideation that I have that could possibly be developed in the future." Netflix's spin-off reality show Squid Game: The Challenge, which was released between November and December 2023, will be back in the future. A second season of the show has been announced by the streaming service.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Squid Game goes from Netflix to Hollywood! Mr Beast's video, The Challenge, David Fincher's work among adaptations
Squid Game season 3 is the final season of Netflix's runaway hit series that focuses on a deadly game that protagonist Seong Gi-Hun gets roped into after his dire life circumstances leave him tempted by the opportunity. However, the series has already become a pop culture phenomenon, being one of Netflix's biggest success stories not just in South Korea, but also worldwide. Therefore it should come as no surprise that there have already been multiple attempts to adapt the premise to other formats including a YouTube recreation, a Netflix game show, and a currently in-production Hollywood adaptation. Let's take a look at the three. Mr Beast's Squid Game video I now have every game from Squid Game built in real life :) One of the first major adaptations of Squid Game's premise came from Mr Beast, the biggest channel on YouTube, who posted an unofficial recreation of Squid Game after the release of the first season. The video, uploaded on 25 November 2021, recreated many of the iconic challenges of the Squid Game series, with contestants being invited to compete for a $456,000 cash prize. Mr. Beast has since continued organizing game shows, with him signing a high-profile contract with Amazon Prime in 2024 to launch his own game show series known as Beast Games. Netflix's Squid Game: The Challenge After Mr. Beast, it was Netflix's turn to make Squid Game into their own reality show. Squid Game: The Challenge was produced in the United Kingdom by Studio Lambert and The Garden, and had 456 contestants play the various challenges for a shot at winning a cash prize of $4.56 million. The first season of Squid Game: The Challenge aired from 22nd November 2023 to 6th December of the same year. Shortly before the first season finale, Netflix confirmed that a second season of the reality game show had been greenlit. David Fincher's Squid Game David Fincher's 'SQUID GAME' series will be set in America.(Source: Deadline) Squid Game is set to have a Hollywood live-action adaptation helmed by David Fincher, as reported by Deadline on October 2024. The project is still relatively early in development, so exact details on the production are sparse. However, given that the original Squid Game's finale is fast approaching, it's entirely possible that Netflix might promote David Fincher's work next to continue the franchise.
