Jimmy Donaldson, popularly known as MrBeast in the online realm, recently unveiled an ambitious venture—a reality competition show in partnership with Amazon MGM Studios. This collaboration marks another stride in bridging the gap between YouTube and traditional television.
The forthcoming series, titled “Beast Games,” is touted as “the biggest reality competition series ever,” promising to engage 1,000 contestants vying for a hefty $5 million cash prize.
Donaldson is the top individual on YouTube with 389 million followers. He’s also the fourth most popular creator on TikTok. He’s got lots of fans!
Renowned for his large-scale productions, Donaldson’s YouTube endeavors resemble professional TV operations, boasting elaborate sets, extensive crews, and substantial cash incentives.
From enduring solitary confinement for seven days to orchestrating stunts like attempting to demolish a Lamborghini with a train and staging his rendition of Squid Game, Donaldson’s repertoire is nothing short of audacious.
During an interview on “The Colin and Samir Show” podcast, Donaldson revealed insights into the financial scope of his YouTube productions, which can cost between $4 million and $5 million each. He expects to have even more money for his new project.
Estimates by news outlet Puck suggest Donaldson’s collaboration with Amazon could amount to approximately $100 million.
Donaldson described his upcoming podcast as way better than their usual videos, with no budget limit. He’s excited about the creative freedom this offers, saying it’s more liberating and amazing than expected.
By partnering with a streaming service, Donaldson aims to transcend the constraints imposed by YouTube’s algorithms and preferences, such as thumbnails, video length, and titles.
Nonetheless, MrBeast videos routinely garner between 300 million and 500 million views each, a substantial figure when juxtaposed with the approximately 80 million active Amazon Prime Video households in the U.S., as reported by Amazon.
“Beast Games” joins a growing trend of creators diversifying their content beyond social media platforms to bolster revenue streams.
Earlier this year, the YouTube group “Sidemen” debuted a Netflix documentary, while the family of TikTok sensation Charli D’Amelio recently premiered the third season of their reality show on Hulu.
Donaldson shared his vision for the project, stating, “We’re reinventing everything. This will probably be six-plus hours of content, whereas my normal videos are 20 minutes long.” He also shared that, the created characters and way of telling stories in this video will be amazing, much better than their usual stuff.
