While in the midst of producing Squid Game: The Challenge, its reality competition series spinoff of the narrative dystopian hit Squid Game, Netflix has been forced to address reports of participants suffering under freezing conditions while filming in the UK, Deadline reports.
On Tuesday, The Sun reported that some of the 456 participants in the first game being filmed for the reality series, “Red Light, Green Light,” had to be stretchered off the playing field. Others, according to one anonymous player, “left in tears” due to filming in 27-degree weather.
“It was like a war zone,” one player told The Sun. “Even if hypothermia kicked in then people were willing to stay for as long as possible because a lot of money was on the line,” another said. “Too many were determined not to move, so they stood there for far too long.”
“While it was very cold on set–and participants were prepared for that–any claims of serious injury are untrue,” Netflix responded in a statement on Wednesday. “We care deeply about the health and safety of our cast and crew, and invested in all the appropriate safety procedures.”
In the original Squid Game, characters participating in “Red Light, Green Light” are immediately assassinated by rifle if spotted moving by the game’s judge: a giant, creepy robot-girl.
With nearly 500 participants vying for a grand prize of $4.56 million, Netflix has touted Squid Game: The Challenge as the “biggest reality competition ever.”
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