A ‘Monopoly’ Reality Show Is Coming to Netflix—And It’s Anything but a Roll of the Dice
Netflix is making a Monopoly reality competition series—here’s what we know so far
You might want to check in with Mr. Monopoly about this one — the Monopoly board game is coming to Netflix as a new reality competition series. The idea for turning the classic game into a reality series has been floating around for a while, and it has officially been snagged by Netflix after a competitive bidding war.
The idea of the show is to bring the game into a large-scale social experiment where contestants will put their Monopoly knowledge to the test and compete for the big prize. This news comes as Hasbro Entertainment announced that it is working on a feature film adaptation of the board game as well, which will happen in collaboration with production companies Lionsgate and LuckyChap.
Netflix’s Monopoly reality series: the official details
You might be wondering why the beloved board game is venturing into the realm of reality TV. The answer is simple: Netflix aims to replicate the success of previous game shows as they evolve into a valuable intellectual property (IP), which encompasses a wide range of intangible assets that a company can own.
Netflix had previous success with the series Squid Game: The Challenge and is creating a second season. There has also been news of the platform working on a Willy Wonka-themed series titled The Golden Ticket.
Hasbro Entertainment, the company that owns the Monopoly brand, has turned other classic board games into TV series before. There has been a show focused on Trivial Pursuit, as well as Scrabble, both of which were created by Lionsgate Alternative Television for The CW.
How the Monopoly board game became a global sensation
As a board game, Monopoly has been a monster success since its debut in 1935, which is when the Parker Brothers began licensing the game outside of the United States. Since then, nearly half a billion copies of the board game have sold worldwide. Monopoly has also been licensed in over 113 countries and translated into about 46 different languages. In 1991, Hasbro acquired the Parker Brothers and then became the owner of the Monopoly brand.
There are now thousands of versions of the Monopoly game available to suit your personal taste, from your favorite shows like Gilmore Girls and Grey’s Anatomy to different popular cities. Monopoly has also ventured over to the tech world, as Monopoly Go! was released as a mobile game in 2023.
A look back at the original 1990 Monopoly game show
If you think you’ve seen this film before, that’s likely because there has already been a Monopoly game show. Back in 1990, ABC released a show based on the board game and under the same name. The premise of that show was similar to the board game, where three contestants would compete to answer crossword-style clues and gain property on the board.
The series was created by Merv Griffin of Merv Griffin Enterprises, who you may know from a little show called Jeopardy! or Wheel of Fortune. But Monopoly only lasted for a total of 12 episodes, ending without renewal due to poor ratings.
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