''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

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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, ''

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'' published a detailed article chronicling the McDonald's Monopoly scandal written by Jeff Maysh. On August 2, ''

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'' announced that a true-crime story based on Maysh's article was up for auction, with the high bid placed by

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, beating other bids from

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, 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

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

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, 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

''McMillions'' companion podcast
on

* {{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