Netflix’s ‘Monopoly’ Reality Series Kicks Off Casting With $2M Prize On The Line

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix is officially passing go on its reality competition series based on iconic board game Monopoly.

The streamer has greenlit the series, which comes from Studio Lambert, and has set a $2M grand prize.

This comes after Deadline revealed that The Traitors producer had won the bake-off to produce the show, which saw around 50 production companies vie for the order. It is making the show with Hasbro Entertainment.

Netflix has kicked off casting on the series, which is set to premiere next year.

Some 12 contestants will compete on a life-sized, “fully realized” Monopoly Town Square. Per the logline, the players will enter on equal footing. But equality won’t last long. To survive, contestants must accumulate everything, or lose it all.  Every negotiation, every decision, and every roll could mean the difference between building an empire and going directly to jail. One by one, bankrupt players are eliminated — until a single winner is left standing to take it all.

Nia Yemoh, Tim Harcourt, Jack Burgess, Stephen Lambert and Kim Murphy will exec produce for Studio Lambert, while Gabriel Marano and Zachary Edwin will exec produce for Hasbro Entertainment.

Last year, Netflix struck a pact with Hasbro for the rights to Monopoly. It was a priority project for recently departed unscripted head Jeff Gaspin.

Gaspin told Deadline that he was convinced to buy the project without a pitch in part due to the success of mobile board game Monopoly Go!.

It is the latest greenlight for Studio Lambert, which is part of All3Media, the production group that was just taken over by Banijay. The company, which produces Squid Game: The Challenge for Netflix, is also behind The Circle, which previously aired on Netflix and is now being remade for Hulu.