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Like just about everything MrBeast does, his show on Prime Video, Beast Games, was big. The Squid Game-like show in which 1,000 contestants competed for $10 million became Amazon’s most watched unscripted series ever, with 50 million viewers in the month it began streaming.
That $10 million cash prize was the biggest in game show history, too. It was originally $5 million, but during the series, MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) doubled it with a coin flip. That’s just one of the reasons MrBeast says that despite a $100 million budget provided by Amazon, he still paid “tens of millions” out of his own pocket.
“It was not a good financial decision to make Beast Games,” MrBeast said in an interview with The Diary of a CEO on YouTube. “I lost money. I would have more money if I didn’t film it.”
In the interview (via GamesRadar) MrBeast explained that the cost for just a single episode of the 10-episode series could exceed $15 million. Episode 1, according to MrBeast, featured “arguably one of the largest sets ever built in history” and the city set in Episode 2 cost $14 million alone to build. Throw in the cost of the prizes given in those episodes, and “you’re probably over $50 million” for just the first two episodes, he said.
When asked how much the entire show really cost: “That I have been advised not to say,” though he claims it ultimately cost far more than $100 million. “I lost tens of millions of dollars on that show,” he said. “I’m an idiot.”
It’s hard to take his self-depreciation seriously—spending staggering amounts of cash while grinning is kind of his whole thing, right? He also took the opportunity to rattle off facts about the show that led to its ballooning budget. “Largest sets in history, most World Records in history, largest cash prize in history, most winners in history, most contestants in history, most cameras,” he said. “We broke a World Record for most camera cables ran. Like, the most miles of camera cables.”
A less fun fact about Beast Games is that the show was also reportedly a nightmare for many contestants. Over a dozen Beast Game competitors anonymously told the New York Times that they were only fed small meals twice a day, weren’t able to access their own prescription medications in a timely manner, and witnessed other contestants vomiting, passing out, and being rushed to the hospital.
“We signed up for the show, but we didn’t sign up for not being fed or watered or treated like human beings,” one contestant told the Times in August. A spokesman for MrBeast said the influencer had begun a “formal review” of the matter and that the show had “taken steps to ensure that we learn from this experience.”
When asked about Beast Games Season 2 on The Diary of a CEO, MrBeast couldn’t confirm it. “Amazon!” he yelled. “Let’s get Season 2 in the books already! Come on, let’s sign a contract.”
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Kurt Indovina
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