Three wealthy men in the entertainment industry have an idea for a reality TV show. Hand-pick 12 people to travel to the Amazon rainforest, play a series of games, and the winner takes home the contents of a treasure chest recovered from a shipwreck.

They pick the contestants by watching TV—random people who have made the news for all the wrong reasons, with bonus points given to those with anger management problems, poor social skills, and no experience with the great outdoors. Contestants include a free-climbing adrenaline junkie, a dumpster-diving vegan, an environmentalist amputee, a union boss, two washed-up politicians, a voluptuous reality TV star, and a volatile inner-city woman with a hair-trigger temper. The location selection process was rushed, but how dangerous could a clearing beside a gorgeous waterfall in an unexplored jungle be?

It looked good from the air. The alluring prospects of millions of dollars in ad revenue and royalties make the producers willing to take the risk. After all, they won't be the ones living in the jungle. Besides, there won't be any natives to worry about. There weren't any signs of indigenous tribes to be seen from the plane. Nothing to worry about. Nothing to worry about at all. Just roll the cameras and film it all. Welcome to Jungle Money.