Netflix has greenlit a reality competition series based on Monopoly, put a $2 million grand prize on the line and kicked off casting for the show, which is set to premiere next year. The project comes from Studio Lambert and will send 12 contestants into a life-sized Monopoly Town Square.
The timing matters because Netflix is not just buying a familiar brand; it is trying to turn one of the world’s best-known games into a stakes-driven television format while the cast is still being assembled. Jeff Gaspin said he was convinced to buy the project without a pitch in part because of the success of Monopoly Go!, a sign that the board game’s reach on phones helped make the TV version feel less like a gamble and more like a ready-made draw.
Netflix struck a pact with Hasbro for the rights to Monopoly last year, and the streaming company now appears ready to cash in on that deal with a format built around scarcity, risk and elimination. The setup is simple on paper: all 12 players start on equal footing, then the board begins to narrow the field as bankrupt players are removed one by one until a single winner remains. That structure gives the show a clean premise, but it also changes the tone of the competition as soon as money starts moving and advantages begin to compound.
That is the friction built into the format. The series is being sold as a contest where every negotiation, every decision and every roll can send someone closer to the grand prize, but the players do not begin from opposite corners of the game. They start equal, and only later does the board separate the lucky from the ruined. In practice, that means the drama will depend less on an opening advantage than on whether a contestant can survive long enough to turn a level playing field into a monopoly of their own.
Studio Lambert’s involvement also explains why Netflix was willing to move quickly. The company already produces Squid Game: The Challenge for Netflix and is behind The Circle, which previously aired on Netflix and is now being remade for Hulu. Around 50 production companies reportedly pursued the Monopoly project before Studio Lambert won the order, which makes the green light look less like a casual brand extension and more like a competitive buy for one of the streamer’s bigger unscripted bets. Casting is now underway, and the unanswered question is who will fit into the 12 available spots when the board finally fills up.
