A documentary covering the surprisingly eventful storyline of the mobile quiz app HQ Trivia is in the works. This documentary will look to tell the story of the pop culture sensation which was played by millions of people before a disastrous – and seemingly final – show that had to be seen to be believed. CNN is behind this documentary, it was announced on Wednesday, with some talent already attached to guide the retelling of the HQ Trivia saga.
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Details on the documentary were first reported by Deadline which cited comments from Chris Licht, chairman and chief executive officer of CNN Worldwide, shared during the recent Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront event. This new documentary is to be directed by Salima Koroma and produced by Left/Right.
An exact release date has not yet been announced, but the documentary is supposed to release at some point in 2023. This documentary follows a podcast from The Ringer in 2020 called Boom/Bust: The Rise and Fall of HQ Trivia which similarly looked to tell the app’s story.
For those somehow unfamiliar with the app, HQ Trivia first launched in 2017 with a simple premise: Players answer questions during a live show, and if they get enough of them right, they stand a chance at getting a cut of a prize pool. Aside form the prospect of winning some money even if it was a small amount, part of the game’s appeal was the live aspect of it which meant that everyone was congregated together at the same time for the same purpose, albeit virtually.
The show’s popularity peaked in 2018 when it had millions of active players and guest hosts like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, but at the end of the year, it was confirmed that its co-founder, Colin Kroll, had died. Host Scott Rogowsky announced his departure in 2019, and in early 2020, it was reported that HQ Trivia would be shutting down. That did happen not long after those reports emerged, and while the game came back in just a matter of months, it’s been unable to return to its former grandeur.
CNN’s HQ Trivia documentary will be out in 2023.
