The world of James Bond is hitting the streaming world a lot sooner than you’d think.
Amazon’s Prime Video has greenlit its first TV show based on the iconic British spy with “007’s Road to a Million,” a Bond-style spin on a race around the world.
The eight-part series will be produced by Britain’s 72 Films (“The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty,” “All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur”) and Bond guardians and producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, along with MGM Television.
Sources tell Variety that the project has been in the works at Prime Video for around four years, long before the MGM deal was finalized, and it sits separately to any shows that are yet to come out of the pact. The e-commerce giant closed its $8.5 billion deal for MGM last week, with the James Bond franchise believed to be a powerful driving force behind the acquisition.
Production on “007’s Road to a Million” will begin later this year, and the new show will launch on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories. Casting is underway and applicants are being invited to send in submissions.
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The show will see contestants competing in a global adventure to win a £1 million ($1.3 million) cash prize. Filmed in many of the historic locations featured throughout the seminal Bond films, the “cinematic format” will be a test of intelligence and endurance. In addition to passing physical obstacles, the contestants — who will compete in two-person teams — must correctly answer questions hidden in different locations around the world in order to advance to the next challenge.
Dom Bird, the former Channel 4 executive who joined MGM to oversee its international unscripted unit back in 2019, will manage the series on behalf of the studio. Executive producers include David Glover, CEO of 72 Films, as well as Wilson and Broccoli for EON Productions, and Barry Poznick and Mark Burnett for MGM.
The show joins a slate of unscripted U.K. originals on Prime Video, including “Clarkson’s Farm” and “All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur.” Other U.K. originals include the dramas “The Rig,” “The Devil’s Hour,” “Jungle,” “Lovestruck High,” “Anasi Boys” and “The Power.” Prime Video’s U.K. team is overseen by Dan Grabiner.
Speaking at French TV drama festival Series Mania this week, Amazon Studios Europe boss Georgia Brown stressed the importance of finding super-local shows out of Europe. With “007’s Road to a Million,” however, Prime Video clearly has global aspirations for the series despite production originating out of the U.K.
72 Films’ Glover told Variety: “I first had this idea over three years ago. Dan Grabiner and the U.K. Originals team took it to a whole other level. To be working with Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and the Bond franchise is a privilege and a dream come true.”
The Bond-themed Prime Video show comes during a period of transition for the franchise, which wrapped up Daniel Craig’s acclaimed run last year with “No Time to Die.” Broccoli and Wilson must now find a new actor to handle the role and to help continue to find ways to make the womanizing spy relevant in a changed world.
