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While it’s probably a safe bet that Wes Anderson will never direct Squid Game, Netflix’s new series The 8 Show suggests that it might be a good idea. The trailer for the show (see below), which debuts on the streamer on May 17, looks like it’s going to be very strange indeed.
The 8 Show is an eagerly anticipated drama from acclaimed director Han Jae Rim, making their first show for Netflix, and with a cast of Korean stars including Ryu Jun Yeol, Chun Woo Hee, Park Jung Min, Lee Yul Eum, Park Hae Jun, Lee Joo Young, Moon Jeong Hee, and Bae Seong Woo. Like Squid Game, it’s about a reality show with a heart of darkness.
Why The 8 Show is one for your watch list
The premise of the show is really intriguing: eight people are trapped in a mysterious eight-storey building to participate in a game show where “time equals money”. In order to win huge sums of cash, they’ll need to make their way through the building’s eight levels through a mix of co-operation, competition and the odd bit of back-stabbing.
The show is based on the hit web comics Money Game and Pie Game by Bae Jin Soo, which you can view on webtoons.com if you don’t mind giving yourself all the spoilers. But if you’d rather just get an overview, here are the rules that the Money Game comic sets out. Skip this next paragraph if you want to come to the show without any advance info.
In Money Game, there are eight contestants, 100 days and a shared pot of nearly forty million dollars. The contestants need to use the money to buy the things they need to survive, but every purchase reduces the amount they’ll walk away with – and every purchase is 1,000 times the price you’d normally pay, so those millions might not last too long. The challenge is to spend as little as possible to protect the cash pot – and that’s where the co-operation, collaboration and betrayals come in.
It sounds brilliant and could well be the next big K-drama hit. We’ll find out for sure when The 8 Show streams on Netflix this May.