Netflix is rolling the dice on a new unscripted reality competition series based on the iconic “Clue” board game.
The series will follow a select group of real-life players as they step into a murder mystery game where the goals are deception and investigation. Along the way, as they compete to outwit their opponents, they will be tasked with completing both physical and mental challenges. Each episode, the contestants will have to solve mysteries — much like “Clue” board game players — by addressing who did what, where they did it and with what instrument or weapon.
For each correct guess, the competitors will add money to their prize pot. If their guesses are wrong, though, they will be up for potential elimination. Netflix teases that, in addition to borrowing the same general rules and objectives of the original “Clue” board game, the competition series will also feature some of the game’s most iconic suspects and archetypal figures.
“Like so many families and friends over the years, we’ve gathered around the table trying to figure out who did it — making ‘Clue’ a source of nostalgia that everyone shares,” Jeff Gaspin, VP of Unscripted Series at Netflix, said in a statement Tuesday. “Thanks to the incredible vision of our partners at Hasbro Entertainment, IPC, and B17, we’re delivering a fresh, imaginative whodunit competition that will invite today’s audiences into that iconic world.”
The series comes after Sony Pictures landed the film and television rights to “Clue” last year. Sony also owns IPC and B17, which are producing the new competition show alongside Netflix and Hasbro Entertainment.
This, notably, does not mark the first time that “Clue” has been adapted by Hollywood. In 1985, writer-director Jonathan Lynn famously turned the board game into a darkly comedic murder mystery starring Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Eileen Brennan, Christopher Lloyd, Martin Mull and Lesley Ann Warren. That film was met with mixed reviews and underperformed at the box office, but in the decades since has grown into a bona fide cult classic.
Netflix no doubt hopes its unscripted take on “Clue” receives a warmer initial welcome. No premiere date has been announced yet for the series.
