Summary
- Collider’s Steve Weintraub talks with MrBeast for Beast Games Season 2.
- The creator discusses how Season 2 cuts the luck, ups skill, and focuses on themed competitions.
- He also talks about teaming up with Survivor’s Jeff Probst, his favorite movies, and how many seasons of Beast Games he wants to do.
In the Digital Age, the world is moving at new breakneck speeds, and entertainment is always adapting and readapting to keep up. Somewhere at the forefront of that mission are YouTube stars who managed to find a unique space to build empires. One such creator is James Donaldson, better known as MrBeast. In addition to his channel, Feastables, “the largest ethically sourced chocolate company in the world,” and other business ventures, MrBeast teamed up with Prime Video in 2024 for his own record-breaking reality competition series, Beast Games. Now, the show is back for Season 2, and bigger than ever.
Like his YouTube channel, Beast Games Season 1 pushed the limits in scope and scale of any competition series that’d come before it. The show not only boasted the most contestants of all time, but the largest cash prize, as well, at a whopping $5,000,000. For Season 2, MrBeast tells Collider’s Steve Weintraub, there’s a significant scaling back after the entertainer pored over feedback from the first season. “I’ve literally seen hundreds of people watch the show. I’ve stared at their faces to really try to pick up on everything that they liked and they didn’t like.” He tells us. “I’m very hypercritical of our content.”
In this interview, MrBeast goes in-depth on what fans of Beast Games can expect going into Season 2 when it drops on Prime Video on January 7, 2026. He shares his new strategy of introducing themes to future seasons and proclaims, “I would love nothing more than to do 10 seasons. I want to do this every year.” He also discusses why he believes Beast Games has to continue for the sake of innovation, shares exciting details for the upcoming challenges, talks about hosting with Jeff Probst for a Survivor crossover episode, and what the future holds for MrBeast.
‘Dune’ Changed the Way MrBeast Watches Movies
“I never rewatch movies because you already know what happens.”
COLLIDER: There are a ton of people out there who follow you, but there are a ton of people who don’t. If someone has actually never seen a video by MrBeast, what’s the first thing you’d like them to watch and why?
MRBEAST: The first thing I’d love for them to watch is Beast Games Season 2, dropping January 7! Jokes aside, you don’t need to see any of my other content before you watch it. Were you able to watch the first couple of episodes?
I watched the first episode, but didn’t want to go any further because I don’t want to ask about it, but I was very surprised with the ending of Episode 1, because I figured that would be something you did in, like, Season 3 or 4. I’m very curious how that’s going to go.
MRBEAST: Yeah, exactly. Honestly, I just watched the show that drops next month, and what’s funny is I have a lot of people now who walk up to me, and they’re like, “Oh, you’re the guy from Beast Games.” And I’ll just randomly ask and be like, “I have a YouTube channel.” And they’re like, “Oh, you do YouTube?” I’ve actually had that happen many times. So, it’s very weird. I’m still getting used to it.
Prime Video is a completely different beast. But at Collider, we have a lot of cinephiles who read and watch the stuff on our site, so do you have a favorite movie or a favorite TV show?
MRBEAST: Right now, my favorite movies would be Dune and Dune 2. I really love that series. I’m so excited for Dune 3, coming up. I’ve never even read the Dune books, and I didn’t really care too much for that world, but just the music and the design and everything about it is so beautiful. I really, really, really love Dune. I never rewatch movies because you already know what happens, and I never understood people who are like, “I’ve seen that movie four times.” I’ve always been like, “What?” But now I get it because I’ve watched Dune maybe like three or four times now, and every time I still enjoy it.
And in terms of a favorite show, I wouldn’t recommend people watch it because it’s kind of outdated and boring for the first couple hundred episodes, but Naruto. I love Naruto.
I am also a huge fan of Dune. I cannot wait for Dune 3. I have to ask you, have you seen Danny Villeneuve’s movie called Arrival?
MRBEAST: Yeah, a very long time ago, when it first came out. That thing came down from space, and the aliens are in it? Yeah.
Yeah, I’m just curious. I love that movie, as well.
MrBeast Reveals How ‘Beast Games’ Season 2 Changes It Up This Time
“We ramped up the amount of skill.”
One of the things that amazes me about your life is how busy you are. I would imagine it’s a 24/7, seven-day-a-week kind of thing. How do you actually manage your schedule with everything that you’re involved in?
MRBEAST: That is a phenomenal question. Managing my time is a full-time job in and of itself, and so I have some people who help me. Basically, what we do is, because we run Feastables, which is the largest ethically sourced chocolate company in the world, we obviously have Beast Games, we have our YouTube channel, TikTok, all these other things, so there’s maybe a list of 500 things I need to do, and we go through, and we just prioritize it all. We’re just like, “In order of priority, what is more important?” And then we list it out, and then we just put it on a calendar. My day is basically scheduled from the time I open my eyes to the time I close my eyes, and we just attack it from the order of most important to least important.
Then, the main channel, I’m just always traveling and shooting, and so it’s not like I can tell Egypt I need the pyramids of Egypt from this hour to this hour. I just get the pyramids of Egypt whenever the government lets me use the pyramids of Egypt, you know? So then I make my meetings and all these different things I need to do around the main channel videos.
I’ve spoken to so many showrunners and filmmakers about the making of TV shows, and one of the things about the making of the first season is that you learn so much about how to make the show. What was the big lesson, or lessons, that you learned from making the first season to sort of fix for Season 2?
MRBEAST: I’m actually very glad you asked that, because Season 1 of Beast Games, the largest competition show to ever exist, by a mile — the largest cash prize in entertainment history, most contestants in entertainment history, the largest sets in entertainment history — people loved all that. But I would watch people watch the show, and I studied all the reviews. I’ve literally seen hundreds of people watch the show. I’ve stared at their faces to really try to pick up on everything that they liked and they didn’t like. I’m very hypercritical of our content. There are two things a lot of people wanted. They didn’t like it when things were luck-based. They’re like, “This is the biggest competition show ever in history, and then this person gets by on luck? It should be skill-based. I don’t want someone to win the largest cash prize to ever exist because they got lucky. I want them to win it because they earned it.”
So, in Season 2, we dramatically reduced the amount of luck, and we ramped up the amount of skill. Then the second thing is they just wanted to know the contestants more, which is why in Season 2, we have 200 contestants — 100 of the strongest people in the world, 100 of the smartest people in the world — as opposed to 1,000 contestants like we did in Season 1. Because obviously, the less people there are, the easier it is to get to know them.
What have you learned making Season 2 that you will apply to Season 3 when you most likely film it next year?
MRBEAST: I’ll be honest, I’m in that puppy dog phase where I love Season 2. I’ve watched every episode like five times, and I think they’re amazing. So, I would be better at answering that once we drop it, and I read some reviews, and I watch people watch it. But as of right now, obviously, I wouldn’t put it out if I didn’t think it was amazing. I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t love everything about it. So, I’m not at the point right now where I can critically roast it, but I’m sure once I drop it, despite thousands of people pouring everything they have, and we went all out, and we listened to every bit of feedback in Season 1, I’m sure there’s going to be a ton of feedback we get on Season 2. That’s the beauty of it. Making content is an ever-evolving thing, and there is no perfect show, there is no perfect movie. There’s always something to learn and improve.
I would actually say Goodfellas by Martin Scorsese is a perfect movie. I’m joking around, but not really. I love that film, but I know what you’re saying. You can always learn from everything.
MrBeast Has No Plans to Slow Down
What’s up next for this creator?
I know you got greenlit for Season 2 and Season 3. Assuming the ratings are still there, is this something that you want to keep going, like Season 4, Season 5? Because you’re so pulled in so many directions.
MRBEAST: Someone cut this clip, send it to the Amazon execs: I would love nothing more than to do 10 seasons. I want to do this every year. I think this is right up my alley. It’s like our YouTube videos, but just 100x. I deeply enjoy these games. I think there are phenomenal shows out there in the reality competition space, but a lot of them are just the same thing that was out there 30 years ago. There hasn’t been much innovation. There aren’t many people who have reinvented the format. And as someone who loves reality competition shows, I just think it’s important for the space that Beast Games continues, and it keeps showing people that just because things were done this way back in 2005, it doesn’t mean they need to be done that way in 2025. I hope it encourages more game shows and reality shows to innovate, to adapt, to create something different. So, I think it’s necessary, and I have no intention of ever stopping. I think it’s a lot of fun.
I will be continuing to watch. Obviously, all the players in Season 2 have seen Season 1, and they’ve seen the way you bribe people in trying to coerce them into making decisions. How did you sort of flip the switch for Season 2 to not repeat the same things and introduce new elements that keep people on their toes and not ready for what you’re going to do?
MRBEAST: Great question. The big thing in Season 2 is 100 of the strongest people in the world versus one of the smartest. So we’re leaning a lot more into that stuff thematically, whereas in Season 1, we might not have had as many strength-based things. Now that we have one of the strongest people in the world, we can do more athletic challenges, and they make sense. Something that in Season 1 might have been a trivia game can now be something way more in-depth because we have a lot smarter people. So, just having a theme this season, definitely in and of itself, already made it feel way different.
Are you already thinking about the theme for Season 3?
MRBEAST: Oh, yes. If Amazon wouldn’t kill me, I’d tell you.
How a Blindfolded Guess Led to a $10M Win in the Wild ‘Beast Games’ Finale
Prime Video’s wildest competition game show just found its winner.
I understand. I’m not going to try to get you in trouble. So it’s near the end of the year. Beast Games Season 2 comes out at the beginning of January.
MRBEAST: January 7th!
What do you want to tease people about your 2026 plans for both the YouTube channel and, just in general, what you’re working on for next year?
MRBEAST: Oh gosh, so much. I think 2026 is going to be the best year of content we’ve ever made. On the YouTube side, we have some of our biggest videos ever we’re working on. A video we’re about to start for next year is Drive Around the World in a Lamborghini, Keep It. I’m going to put a race line and then have someone drive, and then have to drive straight, and if they go all the way around the world and come back and cross that finish line, they get to keep the Lamborghini. We have really cool videos like that that I’m so excited about.
But then with Beast Games Season 2, I mean, you’ve only seen Episode 1. It’s so freakin good, and I just can’t wait for that. By the time you drop this interview, people probably know Episode 4, we did a collab with Survivor, and so Jeff Probst is literally co-hosting Beast Games with me. It’s so amazing on Survivor Island, with the Survivor crew who built this. There are so many things after that that I won’t even spoil. It’s just so amazing. So, I’m just excited for all of Season 2 to get out there, and I’m dying to see what the world thinks because, oh my gosh, it’s so good!
The first three episodes of Beast Games Season 2 premiere on Prime Video on January 7.
- Release Date
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December 19, 2024
- Network
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YouTube, Prime Video
- Directors
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Tyler Conklin
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Jimmy Donaldson
Self – Host
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Sean Klitzner
Self – Warm-Up Host
