Jimmy Donaldson has finally created a real spectacle.
Now better known as MrBeast, this content creator began his career with incredible YouTube challenges, including a nearly 24-hour video of Donaldson counting to 100,000. His other early videos included attempts to break glass with a hundred megaphones, watching paint dry for an hour, and staying underwater for 24 hours. Over more than a decade, he's amassed an audience of nearly half a billion subscribers, leading him to a new project: an online competition series.
More news from Deadline
-
Deadline Contenders, a television project featuring a documentary and a live non-fiction broadcast. Themes: oceans, monsters, and subways.
-
Amazon's New Head of Non-Fiction Programming Is Focusing on Bigger Formats for Younger Audiences – Reality TV Summit
-
Stanley Tucci aims to "dive a little deeper" into the culinary and cultural delights of Italy in his film "Tucci in Italy," a contender for Best Television Project: Documentary/Non-Fiction.
In recent years, Donaldson has also hosted the program Beast Games on Prime Video, in which 1,000 players compete for a $10 million cash prize. And that's just first place. According to Donaldson and executive producer Beast Games Michael H. Miller, every season they tried to up the ante.
«"In season one, we had to think through every little detail—what people were wearing, how I was acting, what the sets looked like—but the beauty of season two is that we can take what worked in season one and just figure out, 'How can we reimagine this? How can we make it bigger, better, or make small changes?'" Donaldson said at Deadline's Contenders TV: Doc + Unscripted panel. "Season two, creatively, was a lot easier because we didn't have to start from scratch; we were going from one to two, in a mental model.".
As the series progressed, Donaldson adds, he became more interested in understanding what motivates the show's participants.
«"How do we really get to know these contestants? How do we prepare them for participation?" he said. "We need to get as close to them as possible, hear about their children, thoroughly research their histories, and get to know the contestants themselves... That's what I focused on in season two.".
Miller adds that working on the second season required everyone to "raise the bar.".
«"It needs to be bigger. We need to make it better. We need to consider all the financial implications, the safety implications, the impact on the crew, everything that goes with it. And it's a challenging task, but we're all here. We're all ready for it," he said.
A video recording of the discussion will be available on Monday.
The Best of Deadline
-
The Good Girl's Guide to Murder Soundtrack: All the Songs You'll Hear in Both Seasons.
-
Premiere dates for new and returning series on broadcast, streaming, and cable channels in 2026
-
The 25 Highest-Grossing Animated Films of All Time at the World Box Office
Subscribe to the Deadline newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. .