McMillions
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''McMillions'' (stylized as ''McMillion$'') is a documentary miniseries about the McDonald's Monopoly promotion scam that occurred between 1989 and 2001. Directed by James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte, the series details how the scam was perpetrated by Jerry Jacobson, the head of security for the agency that ran the promotion, and how he recruited a wide range of accomplices. The series premiered in the US on February 3, 2020, on
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
, and all episodes were made available in the UK on May 27, 2020, on
Sky Documentaries Sky Documentaries is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast, which launched on 27 May 2020. Sky Documentaries broadcasts imported programming from HBO alongside new original and other acquired program ...
. ''McMillions'' was nominated for five Primetime
Creative Arts Emmy Award The Creative Arts Emmys are a class of Emmy Awards presented in recognition of technical and other similar achievements in American television programming. They are commonly awarded to behind-the-scenes personnel such as production designers, ...
s, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.


Premise

''McMillions'' "examines the $24 million worth of fraud that corrupted the
McDonald's Monopoly The McDonald's Monopoly game is a sales promotion run by fast food restaurant chain McDonald's, with a theme based on the Hasbro board game ''Monopoly (game), Monopoly''. The game first ran in the U.S. in 1987 and has since been used worldwide. ...
game between 1989 and 2001, in which there were almost no legitimate million-dollar winners in the contest." Through six episodes, the documentary introduces the FBI and other legal authorities who investigated the ''Monopoly'' game heist, as well as the bogus winners and the perpetrators. Using in-depth interviews with those involved in every aspect of the crime, ''McMillions'' offers an insider's view into one of the most notorious fraud cases of the 1990s and early 2000s.


Episodes


Production

On July 28, 2018, ''
The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...
'' published a detailed article chronicling the McDonald's Monopoly scandal written by Jeff Maysh. On August 2, ''
Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. It is updated several times a day, with en ...
'' announced that a true-crime story based on Maysh's article was up for auction, with the high bid placed by
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
, beating other bids from
Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...
,
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
, and
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
The proposed film adaptation would feature
Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globes. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educatio ...
as director, Pearl Street and David Klawans as producers, and
Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon ( ; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received va ...
in a starring role. Before the Fox project was realized,
Mark Wahlberg Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), formerly known by his stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, producer, and former rapper. Mark Wahlberg filmography, His work as a leading actor, leading man spans the Comedy film, come ...
's Unrealistic Ideas agreed to produce a true crime series based on the rigged Monopoly game at McDonald's. The series is executive produced by Unrealistic Ideas' Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson,
Archie Gips Archie Gips is an American filmmaker and producer raised in New Rochelle, New York, who resides in Los Angeles. He is a cofounder and partner/president of Unrealistic Ideas, a production company that specializes in nonscripted formats. His partne ...
and written, directed and also executive produced by James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte.


Critical reception

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the series had an 87% rating with an average score of 7.29 out of 10 based on 31 reviews. The site's critical consensus read: "Like something out of a movie, ''McMillions'' effectively — if not always artfully — captures the chaos of this once-in-a-lifetime, very real con and the colorful cast of characters at its center." On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, it had a score of 72 out of 100 based on 15 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


Awards and nominations


References


External links


''McMillions''
on
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

''McMillions'' companion podcast
on
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
* {{HBONetwork Shows 2020 American television series debuts 2020 American television series endings 2020s American documentary television series 2020s American television miniseries American English-language television shows HBO original programming HBO documentary films Documentary films about McDonald's True crime television series Monopoly (game) Television series by Home Box Office