Amazon MGM Studios, 72 Films, and EON Productions presented the premiere of 007: Road To A Million on Thursday, 2 November 2023 at Battersea Power Station in London.
Brian Cox – who stars in the series as “The Controller” – was joined by EON Productions’ Barbara Broccoli and Gregg Wilson, 72 Films’ David Glover and series director Julian Jones alongside all of the contestants. A Q&A panel was hosted by Lauren Laverne following the screening of Episode 1.
007: Road To A Million sees nine pairs of everyday people are unleashed on an epic global adventure through a series of James Bond-inspired challenges, for a shot at winning a life-changing £1,000,000 prize. The Controller (Brian Cox) is the mastermind behind the game, watching the pairs as they hunt for 10 questions he’s hidden around the world. Find them, answer them, win £1,000,000!
When asked by Variety why he joined the series, Brian Cox deadpanned: “They paid me an enormous amount of money. And that’s always very attractive.”
Cox added that he has always wanted to join the James Bond franchise, and said when the job offer first came in he assumed it was to play the villain in the next James Bond film. “I thought ‘Oh, 007, finally’. I should have realised that we haven’t got a new James Bond so why would they be casting a villain? But I thought: ‘This might be my big moment to play a Bond villain.’ I’ve always wanted to play a Bond villain.”
Produced by 72 Films, 007: Road To A Million is the first time the James Bond IP has ever been used outside of feature films. “We’re always very protective of Bond,” said James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli. “It wasn’t so much about the time being right [to do a TV show]. It was about the concept being right. 72 Films approached us, we loved the concept and we thought we’d give it a go. And judging by the reaction, I think we got it right.”
When asked whether there are plans for more James Bond-inspired TV shows, Broccoli replied: “I don’t think so. I think it’s the big cinema screen basically. This has been a lot of fun and we’d love this to continue but I think that’s probably it.”
As for the next James Bond film, Broccoli says, “It’s gonna take a while for us to get — you know, it’s a whole new reinvention. So it’ll take some time.”
Speaking to the Express UK, producer Gregg Wilson says the biggest difference between filming a James Bond and 007: Road To A Million is that “I’m not on set when they’re shooting it, that would probably be the major difference. And also the way that this was shot, they had a very small nimble crew, so it’s only really a dozen people following around these contestants sometimes.”
“Then you wait to see the rushes come back, so it’s different in some ways, but the whole planning is very much similar. But of course, I’m very much just one voice in a room of many thrashing this out. Amazon is very involved too and MGM too.”
When asked whether the reigns of the James Bond franchise will one day be handed over to him, Wilson dodges the question, saying that “I’m happy to be a part of it as long as people keep going to the cinemas and watching these films.”
Wilson is, however, far more forthright when ask where things are at with the next James Bond film, stating that “No plans on making the next Bond at this stage. There will be another Bond someday, but we’re not actively developing it.”
‘007: Road To A Million‘ will launch exclusively on Prime Video on 10 November 2023.
