South Korea media giant CJ ENM has signed on for a local adaptation of “Game of Clones” producer Youngest Media’s NBC-bound entertainment format “Small Fortune.”
A four-part pilot series will premiere on CJ ENM’s tvN channel in February. London-based distributor DRG, which is handling sales for the format, sold the show into the market.
“Small Fortune” has also been optioned by Sony Pictures Television for a pan-regional deal in Latin America, as well as by NENT Group, which has optioned the rights for the Nordic region.
Billed as the world’s smallest physical gameshow, “Small Fortune” sees teams of friends and family members compete in minuscule games set in miniaturized worlds, often replicating well-known landmarks or historical sites, in order to win cash prizes.
“Small Fortune” premiered on U.K. broadcaster ITV last year, where it was commissioned as a 6 x 60’ series and aired in a Saturday primetime slot.
The format will debut in the U.S. on NBC later this year.
DRG sales executive Emmanuel Grinda negotiated the deal with CJ ENM.
Grinda said: “At a time when most physical gameshows are getting bigger and bigger, ‘Small Fortune’ bucks the trend and delivers a unique look and feel of its own. It successfully supplies lots of jeopardy and emotion and, because it can be so readily tailored, with miniature versions of local landmarks or famous places, we are confident that it will be a big success”.
South Korean media giant CJ ENM has previously adapted such international formats as “Top Gear” and “Saturday Night Live.” Its own formats, such as “Love At First Song,” have been picked up globally, with the dating-singing hybrid recently acquired by U.S. singer John Legend’s Get Lifted Film Co, Simon Lythgoe’s Legacy Productions and Critical Content.
Jooyeon Park, a producer with CJ ENM, added: “We are always on the look-out for new and different ideas, and think ‘Small Fortune’ is a truly innovative new gameshow that provides a wonderful mix of fun, unusual visuals and high-stakes tension – making for a great all-round primetime family entertainment show.”
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