Twenty-two years after CBS’ The Revenant changed television forever, NBC is announcing an island survival reality show that tries to up the ante.
The competition for the adventure series “Million Dollar Island” from Studio Lambert and Talpa has been announced online.
While The Revenant typically has between 16 and 20 contestants, Million Dollar Island has as many as 100. And while the CBS competition typically runs for 39 days, the new NBC series will run for 50 days. The prize, however, has remained the same at $1 million (inflation seems to affect everything except the island game show prizes).
The show is described as having 100 contestants who “must build friendships and forge alliances as they plan to stay on a remote desert island for up to 50 days and compete to win their share of the $1 million grand prize.” Upon arrival, each participant is presented with a $10,000 bracelet. During their stay on the island, the participants gain and lose bracelets in various challenges, but when the player leaves the island, they must choose who gets their share of the money. In this intense competition, the strength of your personal connections is just as important as being the best player.”
Jenny Groom, Executive Vice President of Alternative Programming and Development, said: “We are excited to partner with a powerful team to bring this fresh and bold social experiment to NBC. This series is sure to entertain with ever-evolving alliances, trust, deceit and an unstoppable will to survive.”
The project is based on the Dutch format, the shooting of the first season of which has recently been completed.
“I’ve had a lot of success with NBC on The Voice, so I’m delighted they will provide the perfect US home for this exciting new show,” added John de Mol, founder and chairman of Talpa.