Netflix has landed on a major deal with a new Monopoly reality series, Deadline reported today, which will arrive as a separate entity to Margot Robbie’s forthcoming Monopoly movie.
The new series, a competition-based unscripted show based on the classic board game, has not yet gone into production. When Netflix finally does Pass Go, an open audition will possibly be held for local contestants.
Jump to (and collect $200):
What is the new Monopoly reality series about?
The synopsis of the new Monopoly series, provided by Hasbro (the company that owns the boardgame) is as follows:
‘A large-scale social-experiment contest. Strategy, alliances, and cutthroat competition will collide as contestants battle for fortune and navigate the fine line between capitalism and chaos. Players will test their friendships, acquire riches and try to own it all by any means necessary.’
Hasbro has a history of adapting its boardgame IP into competition shows, with past series including Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit.
There have been a few Monopoly adaptations already, mainly with the short-lived Monopoly competition series in 1990. That game show, which was created by Merv Griffin and produced by his production company, Merv Griffin Enterprises, aired for only one season on ABC.
Hasbro absorbed the rights to Monopoly from the Parker Brothers in 1991.
There was also the Monopoly Millionaires’ Club, a lottery-based game show hosted by Billy Gardell, which ran for two seasons in 2015-2016 and ‘minted more millionaires in a shorter period of time than any other game show in history’, at least according to one spokesperson. Both shows were cancelled due to poor ratings.
Netflix has recently found success with developing its own IP into reality TV, such as with Squid Game: The Challenge. The streamer is also currently developing The Golden Ticket, a competition series inspired by Roald Dahl’s novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
It’s no random Chance that Netflix has nabbed the new unscripted series rights, as reports say it was quite a lengthy and competitive bidding process. While the exact amount that closed the deal is unknown, it’s likely no boards are being thrown over the Banker’s head on this round.
ScreenHub has reached out to Netflix for further details/comments.
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What is Margot Robbie’s Monopoly movie about?
As you might know already, a Monopoly feature film is also in the works, with Australian actress Margot Robbie producing via her LuckyChap production company (Barbie, Saltburn).
While details of the film’s plot are still under wraps, we do know that it’s being written by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who both wrote and directed Game Night (2018) and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023).
If their past history is anything to go by, we might expect epic quests, dry humour, strong character relationships, and a broad appeal.
The film has apparently been in development for over a decade, with Lionsgate extending its development rights to the board game when it purchased Hasbro’s Entertainment One (also known as eOne). Lionsgate currently holds the rights to make screen adaptations based on several Hasbro concepts. In Australia, Lionsgate releases are usually distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Adam Fogelson recently said at CinemaCon that LuckyChap has ‘a clear point of view’ on the upcoming Monopoly film.
‘I could not imagine a better production team for this beloved and iconic brand than LuckyChap,’ Fogelson said (reported first in Variety).
‘They are exceptional producers who choose their projects with great thought and care, and join Monopoly with a clear point of view. We are tremendously excited to be working with the entire LuckyChap team on what we all believe can be their next blockbuster.’
No further details on the film were given.
Why was Monopoly originally invented?
Originally known as The Landlord’s Game, Monopoly was originally invented to warn people about the evils of capitalism.
Elizabeth Magie, a writer, engineer, and feminist, created the first-known version of the game in 1903. She was (to say the least) not a fan of capitalism, after witnessing the extreme pockets of poverty in the DC and Maryland areas of the United States, where she lived her entire life.
She was also a political activist in the movement known as Georgism, which essentially advocated for a universal land tax (which would tax landowners based on the usefulness, size, and location of their land) instead of an income tax on all workers.
Georgists believed that after using that tax to fund the government, the left over money would be distributed to the people. Incredibly progressive (see: radical) for her time, it was this belief that became the basis for The Landlord’s Game. Magie got to drawing, and soon enough had a board and accompanying pieces that look remarkably similar to the Monopoly of today.
The Landlord’s Game was granted a patent in 1904, after Magie had tested it out with her friends and found it to be a hit. Soon enough, people all over the US were playing versions of the game, with some college students even making their own copies to distribute among friends.
Then, three decades after The Landlord’s Game was invented, the Parker Brothers published a modified version known simply as Monopoly, without crediting Magie. Charles Darrow claimed the idea as his own, and oft repeated a story that the game was invented in his basement – though it is likely he was heavily influenced by playing The Landlord’s Game.
Despite speaking out against them in the press, Magie reportedly only made $500 from her invention – and naturally received none of the credit for it. Charles Darrow continued to live off of his Monopoly fortune, and did not go Directly to Jail (we’re not saying he should have, I just wanted to throw that reference in somewhere).
Why do people still play Monopoly in 2025?
According to Hasbro and Lionsgate, Monopoly is currently the world’s most popular board game brand, with ‘99% global awareness’. It’s available in more than 100 countries across the globe, selling nearly half a billion copies from 1935 to now.
The rules are simple, the board is uncomplicated, and the game has a certain longevity to it. Anecdotally, you’d be hard pressed to find someone that hasn’t ever played Monopoly, and perhaps even more pressed to find someone that’s won Monopoly (without a board being cracked over their head).
As a world-famous brand, it probably owes at least some of that fame to its IP adaptability. In the last 40 years alone there have been around 300 versions of Monopoly made, with notable tie-ins including Pokémon, Star Wars, Game of Thrones, and Marvel’s Avengers, plus spin-offs like the Junior Edition, Astronomy Edition, and the Millennial Edition (at least no one has any pretense about ever owning a property in the latter).
Special Australian editions include, well, the Australian edition, the Australia Post edition, the Australian Football League (AFL) edition, the Brisbane edition, and, as seen at the top of this article, the Frankston edition (though that one is owned and created by custom boardgame makers Winning Moves Australia, so I’m not sure it counts).
At this point, Monopoly is as instantly recognisable as the Nike ‘swoosh’ or the McDonald’s golden arches. It’s not leaving the public psyche any time soon.
Sure, one might occasionally glean Lizzy Magie’s original meaning of the game, as they demand yet another wad of cash from their little brother and feel the strike of a tiny but surprisingly hard shoe token streaking across their temple.
But doesn’t it feel more fun to make so much money by doing so little? Of course it does. Yay, capitalism!
The Monopoly series, coming to Netflix, and the Monopoly film, developed by Lionsgate, are yet to confirm release dates.
