Two contestants plot a survival strategy in Squid Game. Streaming on Netflix. Photo / Supplied
Two contestants plot a survival strategy in Squid Game. Streaming on Netflix. Photo / Supplied
Popular YouTuber MrBeast has taken the internet by storm with more than 70 million subscribers, but even he was surprised at the incredible reception his recreation of Netflix hit Squid Game has received.
The video "Real Life Squid Game", featuring full-scale sets and costumes, pitted hundreds of people against each other for a prize of US$456,000 (NZ$668,000).
Mr Beast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, revealed the stunt cost a total of $3.5m, to put together and was funded in part by the video game company behind Brawl Stars.
The video collected more than 46 million views in its first 24 hours, proving viewers are still chomping at the bit for Squid Game content after the Korean-made show took streaming by storm in October.
Netflix revealed the smash hit had become its most popular show of all time, netting billions of hours of stream time and sparking several internet trends overnight.
As hype began to grow, Donaldson promised his fanbase to recreate the show in real life if his TikTok video reached 10 million likes. The YouTuber star began tweeting snippets of the sets his team had built two weeks ago, revealing almost 1:1 replicas of the scenes showed in the show.
Of course, the contests were all changed to be 100 per cent safe. In the first game, "Red Light, Green Light", contestants merely had a device attached which exploded and stained their shirts to them they had been eliminated for moving after the buzzer – instead of being shot by a sniper from afar as seen in the show.
The recreations of the tug of war game and bridge jumping episode included foam underneath to save contestants from injury.
In the final round, the Squid Game was replaced with musical chairs with the contestants' hands tied up instead.
The YouTuber revealed the entire video cost around US$3.5 million. Photo / Supplied
New reports from South Korea state the Netflix hit has even found its way across one of the world's tightest borders into Kim Jong-un's North Korea.
Authorities were quick to respond as the show caught fire, labelling it an example of the "sad reality of the beastly South Korean society".
"It is said that [Squid Game] makes people realise the sad reality of the beastly South Korean society in which human beings are driven into extreme competition and their humanity is being wiped out," state-run media announced.
The YouTuber revealed the entire video cost around US$3.5 million. Photo / Supplied
But it hasn't stopped locals risking it all to view the hit series, which Netflix estimates tallied more than 1.6 billion hours of stream-time in its first 28 days.
New reports out of the hermit nation revealed a North Korean student who smuggled copies of Squid Game into the country and sold them will be executed by firing squad.
North Korean authorities caught seven high school students watching the violent drama after sharing the show via USB flash drives.
