YouTube philanthropist and content creator Jimmy ‘Mr Beast’ Donaldson has revealed the eye-watering cost of his real-life Squid Game recreation, even showing fans some more behind-the-scenes footage of it all coming together.
Since the South Korean dystopian TV show Squid Game debuted back in the middle of September on Netflix, fans across the world have become enthralled with the series.
The dark vision of the future is from Hwang Dong-hyuk and, minus the violent moments of retribution, plenty of admirers are seeking to recreate them in real life.
Arguably the most prominent example is Mr Beast, who has promised his 74 million subscribers a Squid Game recreation the likes of which many would consider unfathomable.
Back on November 7, Mr Beast revealed that the cost of the recreation had already exceeded his expectations, but joked that he was “too deep” to call the project off.
He then provided fans with another update on November 13, this time in the form of a TikTok showing his recreation of every mini-game from the show.
Fans were impressed with the accuracy and dedication on display, and some enquired as to how much it had cost the 23 year old.
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Rather surprisingly, he responded, putting the total figure at around $3.5 million. “Around 2 mil to build and produce and 1.5 mil in prizes,” he said.
Around 2 mil to build and produce and 1.5 mil in prizes
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) November 13, 2021
The total cost puts it as the YouTuber’s most expensive video to date – a difficult title to come by.
He has made his name on YouTube with ambitious and expensive projects. Arguably the most notable recently saw him pledge to raise $30 million to clean up the world’s oceans, with each dollar donated going towards removing 1lb of trash from the seas. As of the time of writing, over 15 million lbs of trash are set to be removed from the ocean.
His Squid Game project might just be his most anticipated, though.