CBS Orders ‘Candy Crush’ Reality Series Based On Mobile Game From Lionsgate
Popular mobile game Candy Crush is headed to television as a new one-hour, live action game show series on CBS from Wipeout creator Matt Kunitz, Lionsgate and King, the company behind the game.
In the game Candy Crush Saga, players match colorful candies in combinations of three or more to win points, defeat obstacles and progress through more than 2,000 levels. On the series, teams of two people use their wits and physical agility to compete on enormous, interactive game boards featuring next generation technology to conquer Candy Crush and be crowned the champions.
“We are huge fans of Candy Crush and, like so many others, we know the ‘rush’ of advancing to the next level of the game,” said Glenn Geller, President, CBS Entertainment. “We’re excited to work with Lionsgate and King to adapt one of the world’s most popular and entertaining game franchises for television and make it available to its massive, passionate fan base who can watch and play along at home.”
Liosngate has been developing Candy Crush as a TV show for about two years. Kunitz was brought in to create and executive produce the series under his overall deal with Lionsgate TV. He was well equipped for the job, having created and executive produced the ABC reality series Wipeout, which had the look and feel of a video game with its colorful, oversized obstacle courses.
“The Candy Crush franchise is a world-renowned property, so when the head of our interactive and games division, Peter Levin, brought this IP to Lionsgate, we instantly knew it would make an incredibly visual, physical and fun TV program,” said Kevin Beggs, Chairman, Lionsgate Television Group.
Candy Crush will be distributed domestically by CBS Television Distribution and internationally by Lionsgate.
Before Wipeout, Kunitz served as executive producer on NBC’s Fear Factor.
“The Candy Crush franchise lends itself perfectly to the kind of larger-than-life, physical game shows that I love to produce and CBS is the perfect home for it,” said Kunitz. “As a Candy Crush Saga player myself, I am excited to amp up the action and visuals in our huge Candy Crush Arena.”
Candy Crush Saga and its sister title, Candy Crush Soda Saga, are two of the top 10 grossing mobile games in the U.S. On average, 18 billion game rounds are played every month around the world.
Candy Crush will be produced by Pulse Creative in association with Lionsgate Television, King Ltd. and CBS Television Studios. Kunitz and Levin executive produce alongside Russell Binder, King VP Nicki Sheard, and Candy Crush Saga creator Sebastian Knutsson, King’s Chief Creative Officer and is one of the founders of the company. Levin worked with Striker Entertainment’s Binder, King’s licensing agent in the U.S., to secure licensing Candy Crush IP for the TV show.
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