Michael Strahan, Endemol Shine North America to Develop U.S. Version of ‘Money Drop’
By Joe Otterson
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Endemol Shine North America is teaming up with Michael Strahan’s SMAC Entertainment to develop a U.S. version of the game show “The Money Drop.”
Originally launched in 2010 as “The Million Pound Drop Live” by Endemol UK’s Remarkable Television for Channel 4, the format has now been produced locally by Endemol Shine Group in 54 global territories, including Germany, Brazil, France and Australia. The series has aired as a daily show in France, Uruguay and in Central and Eastern Europe and multiple versions have aired weekly in Asia and Germany.
The show features a pair of contestants that are given their prize at the start of the show – bundles of real cash. All they have to do is keep hold of it. Just eight questions stand between them and their chance to take home the money.
This is played out on the Drop – a device with four trapdoors, on which the answers to each question are displayed. The contestants have 60 seconds to debate and place their money on the trapdoors. Are they confident enough to place all of their money on one answer, or will the relentless pressure cause them to play it safe and spread their money across several answers? When time’s up and they have allocated their cash, the team must step up to the drop to find out if their choices were right or wrong.
“I was in London the first time I saw ‘Money Drop’ and I immediately knew we had to help bring it back to the U.S.,” said Strahan. “On behalf of myself, Constance Schwartz-Morini and the rest of the team at SMAC, we’re excited to take ‘Money Drop’ to market with the amazing team at Endemol Shine and make it SMAC’s third game show next to ‘The $100,000 Pyramid’ and ‘The Joker’s Wild.’”
Strahan will serve as an executive producer on the show. Strahan is an NFL Hall of Famer who currently co-hosts “Good Morning America” as well as ABC’s reboot of “The $100,000 Pyramid.”
No network is currently attached. Endemol and SMAC are said to be looking into potential primetime and daytime opportunities for the show, including national syndication.
“We are thrilled to partner with Michael and the team at SMAC Entertainment to develop an all-new version of ‘The Money Drop’ for an American audience,” says Michael Weinberg, executive vice president of syndication at . “This is a format that has worked successfully all over the world and the game concept itself is a lot of fun and engaging.”
