This week the shooting of Squid Game: The Challenge , a game show produced by Netflix and based on the Korean phenomenon , has started .
However, alarming news has come from the Cardington Studios set in north London: some competitors have been treated by the medical team due to the intense cold that has hit the United Kingdom these days.
On Monday, the first day of filming, temperatures dropped below zero. Filming is taking place inside a hangar, but evidently the temperatures outside have dropped too much, so much so that the cold has also made itself felt inside.
It seems that the incidents took place during a game of Un, due, tre, stella!, famous for being the first game shown in the original series. Among the people followed by the doctors there would also be a competitor who would have injured his shoulder after accidentally hitting a wall. In all, there are less than five competitors, all with minor problems. Netflix has categorically denied that any contestants were wheeled off the set. Apparently, the production provided participants with thermal suits and hand warmers. A spokesperson for the studio told Variety :
We care deeply about the health and safety of our cast and crew, and have invested in all appropriate safety measures. As cold as it was on set – and the attendees were prepared for this – any rumors of serious injuries are not true.
Like the series, Squid Game: The Challenge sees 456 contestants from around the world battle it out for a cash prize, which in this case is $4.56 million. Unlike the series, the idea is that nobody dies during the games.
British tabloid The Sun spoke to some of the eliminated entrants. One of them stated:
Some people couldn’t move their feet because it was very cold. You’d hear people yelling “Doctor!”, and the crew would rush over. It ended up that we found ourselves still for thirty minutes between one take and another.
It is unlikely that Netflix could have moved the start of filming, given the high number of participants. Apparently, of the 456 contestants, only 228 made it through the first round, and therefore Monday was a really key day in the making of Squid Game: The Challenge .