Are you a couple prepared to take risks? Have you always wanted to team up with your bestie to conquer obstacles in glamorous and exotic locations; or do you just fantasise about Logan Roy pulling your strings in the vain hope of becoming a millionaire? If so, a new James Bond reality TV show could be just the thing.
Producers on the forthcoming Prime Video series 007’s Road to a Million are looking for people to take part in the second season of the mysterious and much-anticipated show, which was announced this year and is yet to premiere.
What is known is that contestants will compete in pairs in a Bond-style race around the world to win a £1m cash prize – all while their fate is controlled by the Succession star Brian Cox. Contestants must correctly answer questions hidden in different 007-inspired locations around the world, from the Scottish Highlands to Venice and Jamaica.
“We’re now searching for more dynamic duos to jet across the globe using their wits and general knowledge to answer questions hidden around the world,” the application form states.
“You don’t have to be a Bond fan to apply but we are looking for teams of two that are very close in their relationship and who would enjoy an adventure.”
Early promotional materials from Prime Video indicated it was leaning into Cox’s role as the patriarch Logan Roy in the multi-award-winning series Succession. A synopsis said: “The controller is villainous and cultured, and revels in the increasingly difficult journeys and questions the contestants must overcome.
“He has millions of pounds to give away – up to £1m per couple – but he doesn’t make it easy. Whilst he lurks in the shadows, he is watching and controlling everything.”
For his part, Cox said he got to see how ordinary people would cope with being on a 007 adventure. “As they travel the world to some of the most iconic Bond locations, it gets more intense and nail-biting. I enjoyed my role as both villain and tormentor, with licence to put the hopeful participants through the mangle,” he said.
The show is a collaboration between Amazon Studios, Eon Productions, 72 Films and MGM Alternative, and marks the first time Eon has allowed the Bond brand to be used in the unscripted world. Amazon’s $8.5bn deal to buy MGM in 2021 secured it the rights to create a wave of Bond remakes, reimaginings and spin-offs.
The Bond franchise has been a global cultural phenomenon for six decades, and speculation has mounted over what shape it will take in the new media landscape, especially as Daniel Craig’s incarnation of the spy drew to a close with the release of No Time to Die in 2021.
Speaking to Variety last year, the Bond producer Barbara Broccoli said: “People have always come to us about doing a TV show, [saying]: ‘Oh, you should do a Bond challenge’, but we always stayed away from it because we didn’t want to put people in danger and have them do dangerous things, because it’s not for members of the public – it’s for trained professionals.”
007’s Road to a Million was the first time a producer – Britain’s 72 Films (which is behind shows such as the BBC’s The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty and Amazon’s All or Nothing football series) – proposed an idea that was deemed fun and safe.
“It wasn’t going to be dangerous to the participants is the key thing,” said Broccoli’s fellow Bond producer Michael G Wilson.
Ajay Chowdhury, a spokesperson for the James Bond international fan club, the oldest established 007 fan organisation in the world, was positive about the show’s potential. “The casting of the best Bond villain never used, Brian Cox, is reason enough for hope,” he said.
While this show seems to be a first for the expansion of the Bond brand, Chowdhury added, there are some precedents. “Over the decades there have been James Bond-themed amusement park rides, competitions to be an extra in Bond films and audience experiences, such as the live orchestrations of Bond music played to the films in concert venues the world over.
“A few years ago, Secret Cinema showcased a hugely inventive, interactive experience with screenings of Casino Royale where one actually participated in the plotline. It is generally accepted amongst Bond fans that these interesting ‘sidequels’ do not distract and deviate from the main franchise itself. They are the pre-titles to the pre-title sequences: the famous through-the-gun-barrel opening of the Bond films.”
For Chowdhury, 007’s Road to a Million should be seen in the context of the current status of the franchise. “Broccoli’s words regarding the future of Bond are encouraging: reinvention and a new film within the next few years. With Daniel Craig’s 007 swansong being a commercial and critical hit, her comments have sent fans salivating over the future of Bond … the pressure is now on for secret agent 007 to earn back that Amazon investment,” he said.
Prospective applicants for the show’s second series are asked to record a short video of themselves with their partner, as well as fill out a number of questions about their relationship to each other and why they’d like to do the challenge together.
Filming is due to take place throughout 2024, and applicants have been told they will be away from home, possibly outside the UK, for short periods.
