Bear Grylls Lands Interactive Netflix Show ‘You vs. Wild’

Netflix has found an unconventional way to follow-up the interactive Black Mirror movie Bundersnatch: an interactive show starring Man vs. Wild host Bear Grylls.

On Monday, the streaming site announced You vs. Wild, in which viewers will make the survival decisions for Grylls to decide whether or not he succeeds in each adventure. According to Polygon, the locations for the eight episodes include jungles, deserts, forests and mountains.

“I’m so proud to deliver this first-of-its-kind live-action interactive series, really giving viewers an all access pass to explore the world and its landscapes in my boots,” Grylls said in a statement. “The stakes are high in this one!”

According to Variety, the show will be produced by Electus and Bear Grylls Ventures. Executive producers are Grylls, Chris Grant, Drew Buckley, Ben Silverman, Howard Owens, Rob Buchta and Delbert Shoopman. Ben Simms directed all eight episodes.

The project was first announced by Netflix Original Series VP Cindy Holland during a panel about the future of storytelling. “It’s still in the evaluation and growing stage,” she said of the project.

Grylls, 44, is a survivalist best known for hosting Man vs. Wild from 2006 to 2011. He most recently appeared on U.S. TV in Running Wild with Bear Grylls, a series pairing him with celebrities. The fifth season will air on National Geographic. Past episodes have co-starred Channing Tatum, Ben Stiller, Zac Efron, Kate Winselt, Michael B. Jordan, Don Cheadle, Lena Headey and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. In 2015, he filmed a special episode with President Barack Obama.

You vs. Wild is the latest interactive series Netlfix has in the works. Back in June 2018, Netflix announced a partnership with Telltale Games to create a series based on Minecraft.

Netflix started interactive programming in June 2017, but first focused on children’s shows. Bandersnatch was the first test with a live-action series and it included alternate endings and loops that gave viewers a shot at do-overs.

“We can confirm Minecraft: Story Mode is a licensed 5-episode interactive narrative series coming to our service this fall,” Netflix told Polygon last year. “It’s an extension of our other interactive stories we have on our service like Stretch Armstrong: The Breakout, Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale and Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile.”

All eight episodes of You vs. Wild will be released on Netflix on April 10.

Photo credit: Netflix