Netflix’s “The Circle” will head to Hulu with a new edition of the competition series ordered by the Disney-owned streamer that will feature celebrity players and embody the fast turnaround of “Love Island.”
While “The Circle” ran on Netflix for seven seasons, the streamer hadn’t renewed the series since its seventh installment aired in October 2024. In the meantime, Hulu nabbed the rights to the series from producer Studio Lambert, which is behind Peacock’s buzzy “The Traitors,” with plans to revamp the series.
In the new version ordered by Hulu, the series will feature celebrity contestants playing alongside everyday players “in a game of popularity where identity is ever-changing and anyone can be anyone,” per the official logline. The host and full cast will be announced at a later date.
Similar to Peacock’s “Love Island USA,” the game will be filmed in real time as it introduces audience voting for the first time in the U.S., giving viewers the ability to shape the game as it unfolds.
It’s a surprising move for Disney, which has largely stuck to expanding its reality universe via dating series and expansions of its successful franchises including “Dancing With the Stars” and “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” though it’s in line with Hulu’s series order for “The Mob,” which seems to be Disney’s answer to “The Traitors.”
Hosted by Parker Posey, “The Mob” is a described as a “high-stakes reality competition series that sends a group of celebrities to a lavish Italian villa where they will shake down, hustle and whack their way to win up to $250,000 in cash prizes,” per the logline.
“I think ‘Traitors’ has shown that … putting all-stars in a game like this is really just great TV, so we’re really, really excited to to get into that space,” Rob Mills, Walt Disney Television’s EVP of unscripted and alternative entertainment, told TheWrap in April. “It’s something we’ve been trying to get into for a while, and this was the perfect format. And obviously it’s a privilege to be able to work with Stephen Lambert, who was sort of the literal godfather of all of this stuff.”
The Circle” is produced by Studio Lambert alongside Omaha Productions and Motion Entertainment.
Executive producers for Studio Lambert include Tim Harcourt, Jack Burgess, Niall O’Driscoll and Stephen Lambert, while Peyton Manning, Jamie Horowitz, and Colin Campbell will executive produce for Omaha Productions. Martin Oxley and Chet Fenster for Motion Entertainment, a WPP Entertainment Company, and Susan House serves as showrunner. All3Media International handles international format and tape sales for The Circle.
