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Barbara Broccoli says Brian Cox was "joking a little bit" about thinking "007: Road to a Million" was the next Bond film.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/james-bond-barbara-broccoli-007-ai-road-to-a-million-brian-cox-234847661.html
I have one question that I’d like to clear up: I thought Road to a Million was pitched and was already in early development BEFORE the sale to Amazon, but you’re saying the creators of the show pitched to Amazon BEFORE EoN (I could be mistaking my “intel”, but I thought I was told about this reality series before the sale)?
Can you clarify for my little brain?
I didn't see Arnold's name on it apart from the opening theme arrangement (which is nice); Sam Thompson is credited for the music.
It's good fun though, and very wisely they've made sure it looks completely beautiful, so fits into the luxurious world of 007 visually. The Highlands look stunning.
I get Denbeigh's comment about the slight lack of Bond as a concept though: when no-one is mentioning James Bond you do kind of start to wonder why the 007 theme is present at all. The barn full of Bond cars goes oddly unmentioned, for one thing.
What I did like about that scene was that Cox's character plays a dirty trick on the contestants, and I'd like much more of that- it kind of differentiates it from similar adventure shows if there's a character who seems to be actively playing against them. And in the highlands I kind of wanted a FRWL-style helicopter to be coming after them: maybe some baddies wouldn't be a bad thing. I did like the Venice challenge though- it started to get feel a little spy adventure-like, which is a good thing. If they go for more I'd like slightly more intricate challenges, which look like the sort of thing the audience would like to play. The locations are amazing, but I think there's scope to make the challenges the sort of thing you'd want to have a go at, beyond just the question.
The older brother feels a bit of a dead weight! :D
It actually reminded me of the Casino Royale Secret Cinema experience, funnily enough: in that as an audience member you got to enter the world of Bond and do Bondy things, participate in spy challenges, but without 007 himself being present.
My understanding from the somewhat-roundabout story from Julian Jones at the roundtable was that his own company started with a loosely Bond-inspired show concept, before Eon and Amazon were officially a thing. At some point (not sure when) he did some sort of pilot for his version, which he pitched around (I think he said to Amazon). Whoever reviewed his pitch( again, pretty sure he did say Amazon), said it needed to be actual Bond-themed and put him in touch with Eon, who then eventually agreed to it (I'm not sure when). As for what company was what at the time I'm not sure.
At the end of the episode there's a music cue, which, if you're a Bond fan, lets you know if they've got the question right or wrong :D
The questions are rather natty too: I like the way that they're initially easy, but if you think about them too hard they suddenly become tricky to pick the correct answer as another one seems possible. As I say though, I'd like a touch more complexity to each little adventure, like one thing could lead to another. The Venice villa task was the best I've seen so far.
With the non-repeating tasks, I appreciate that too. I was worried when I first sat down to watch, but was quickly made calm when that wasn't that case. As for the questions, I actually got the first one wrong because I was doubting whether something was fictional or real, so I wouldn't have made it very far... but yes a little more complexity would be nice going forward, again if there is a future for this series. I've been wondering as well if the simplicity is based on budget given this is a first season and a lot of the budget is already up on the screen with the locations and the hurdles that they do have put in place.
From my experience in interviews this week, much of the budget also likely went into the actual production costs of camera and crew: they shot this with "cinema quality" cameras and audio, and some of the BTS photos show the two contestants flanked by an entire group of 4-6 filmmakers. They also wouldn't get into specifics, but consider for a moment some of the location requirements ... money was likely used to open (or temporarily close) doors to lockdown locations, so to speak. Julian Jones said he was also on set behind the monitor a lot, told stories of monitors freezing in Switzerland.
I think they could lean more into the fictional side, like meeting Gino in his classic Fiat. Give them more actors to meet and interact with, maybe giving them a plot to play out would be going too far, but I think they could have more fun with the spy concept.
They could do A LOT more imo. Color is good indeed, Julian Jones is mostly a feature documentary filmmaker up to now I believe. In the gondola sequence of I believe the second episode (only got a preview of the second ep.), did you all notice the younger brother of the pair had fresh, significant scars on the inside of his right elbow, and also on his knee? I was curious if this show resulted in any injuries ...
The end credits music is fine but nothing too special, in my opinion. It's highly reminiscent of the second half of the track named "Gearing Up" in the NTTD soundtrack.
I assume the end credits music is by Sam Thompson.
I was thinking it might be nice to give them some gadgets next time; like if they need to break into a place somewhere down the line then they're given a TLD-style keyring with skeleton key, that sort of thing.
Love this show....
To add to my previous post, it's interesting to see how both Zimmer in NTTD, and Arnold in this show, have been playing with the rhythm of the Bond theme, with very interesting results. It's not an aspect that has been explored thoroughly in the past.
Ask and you shall receive, delfloria.
https://mega.nz/file/5IRWAZqA#q6AJxvBifZ2T3zLYRUTeo30Hw8rCxZbCwlBxOpYAjbg
(Can't stop listening to it.)
Its the only good thing to have come out of the show. I wouldnt mind if this was the main Bond theme for the next actor’s run, much like “The Name’s Bond… James Bond” version was for DC.
Thanks. Best thing about the show.
Agreed! Watching the first episode and this new rendition is awesome.
I liked the use of Bond locations, and the subtle use of clues that referenced Bond films.
It didn't bother me that none of the contestants were not Bond fans.
The production values were huge, and some of the environments they found themselves in were impressive visually.
On the whole, I think Brian Cox worked well, and I'll watch the second season, if and when it comes out.
That the contestants never mention or make reference to anything to do with Bond… is hugely frustrating.
I'm not clear on what you're saying about Lucasfilm versus Eon and their box office... Bond blows Lucasfilm out of the water on total box office gross, adjusted or not, and is definitely a cash cow in Amazon's portfolio.
Just to be clear, this TV show started as a Bond-inspired project taken to Eon, who then backed it with some involvement, but it was not pitched nor piloted by Eon, and they went along with the main director who approached them with it. This TV show was seemingly being pitched around 2018/2019 and didn't go into production until March of 2022, reported to be around four years of development, meaning it was pitched, I'd guess it sat on a shelf during Covid lockdown, and then finally shot.
On Eon's front during at least half of that development period, they were finishing NTTD during the pandemic post-production. They were focusing on what was at the time the next movie (The Rhythym Section 2020), and then their other next movie (NTTD 2021), and their 2022 theater production of Macbeth and 2022 production of Till, and then Eon likely pivoted to more involvement in post-production of the TV show this year (2023). That's not to mention any projects since 2018 they've begun work on and just never saw the light of day or got of the ground, or aren't ready for public yet (maybe even Bond 26). Plus, and we'll never know how simple or complex this part is, they did have to negotiate a new relationship between Amazon and MGM, and wait out the two Hollywood strikes of 2023 on any film development for political purposes.
All this to say: Eon was probably only involved in planning/production of the show in securing some locations, opening the vault of props, and a licensing agreement, to be perfectly honest. Because that's what the show they were pitched asked of them. Julian Jones, a notable documentary director up to this point, approached them with a glamorous and straightforward reality show concept that didn't sound like it would harm people, spoke to everyday viewers, and perhaps didn't require much of the Eon team, so they could focus on projects like TRS, NTTD, Macbeth, and begin working with IO on the new game. I can't say that happened for sure but that's my guess. But Eon also threw its weight behind the show's launch, with Brian Cox, a big premiere, some big-outlet interviews, and did their job of generating attention for it.
So, maybe Eon should have been more involved on the show concept, I'd agree with you there. But it's funny to me to, on one hand say you want Amazon to force more books out (though I don't think they have any involvement in IFP actually) and on the other say the only Amazon Bond project to date is not worth your time and feels underdeveloped. What would you expect of Amazon forcing more book deadlines, then?
Update: something just clicked about the tv show for me: the Bond background with otherwise uninterested contestants is exactly like watching a Bond movie with someone who has never seen one before or isn't a fan. They don't notice what you want them to notice, all the cool stuff and the themes and the songs etc., but they still seem to have a good time at the end of it, and hopefully you did too. Or you never do it again, lol. It'd be funny if the "Controller" character mocked the contestants more for their lack of Bond knowledge/awareness, just to actually point the stuff out for audiences and to have a little more fun with that role.
https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/tv/2023/11/007-road-to-a-million-review-brian-cox-james-bond
;))