With the McMillions docuseries arriving next month, what's the status of Ben Affleck's McScam movie which tells exactly the same story? Both McMillions and McScam revolve around the McDonald's Monopoly fraud scandal performed by Jerome Jacobson throughout the 1990s. Most will be familiar with the long-running, addictive fast food promotion in which customers can collect tickets from McDonald's purchases, with prizes ranging from a free apple pie to a luxury vacation, but there always seems to be a few elusive tickets standing between you and that dream trip. Jacobson was chief of security for the marketing company organizing the game on McDonald's' behalf, and was mistakenly given full access to the tickets. Jacobson then began a five-year process of rigging the McDonald's Monopoly game, ensuring his associates won the best prizes and taking a cut for himself.
This gripping true story of crime, greed, subterfuge and fries was set for the movie treatment according to a 2018 announcement, with Ben Affleck directing and Matt Damon in the lead role. Under the title McScam: How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald's Monopoly Game and Stole Millions, Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese of Deadpool fame were confirmed as writers, but precious little has been heard of the project since, and now there's a new take in town. Titled McMillions and executive produced by Mark Wahlberg, the HBO documentary series offers insight into the fraud case from a true crime angle and is set to premiere on February 3rd to a backdrop of eager anticipation.
A year and half on from the initial McScam announcement, there's still no word of a release date and the release of McMillions casts further doubt on the project. The hold up is likely a consequence of Disney purchasing 20th Century Fox. After a hotly contested bidding war, Fox won the rights to McScam alongside Affleck and Damon, reportedly paying a hefty sum for the rights to the project. In March 2019, Fox was acquired by Disney and McScam has gone McSilent. It's perhaps fair to say that Disney hasn't seen much commercial success from the finished films they inherited from Fox, meaning any projects that hadn't even entered pre-production when the deal was completed (like McScam) could easily be cancelled or put on hold indefinitely. While there's no official confirmation on whether McScam will go ahead at Disney, the lack of updates isn't an encouraging sign and Fox projects have certainly not been a priority in their adopted home thus far, with New Mutants delayed and the likes of Mouse Guard cancelled entirely.
A lot of money was shelled out to option McScam, and with so many interested parties initially in the bidding, Disney are now sitting on one of Hollywood's hottest properties. With the rights already in their grasp, it's possible that Mickey and his friends will get around to the fast food fraud festivities sooner or later, especially with two big names already attached. Having said that, Disney aren't exactly known for their based-on-a-true-story Oscar-baiting crime dramas and so McScam may not be one of the Fox properties Disney are taking a serious look at. It perhaps wouldn't be too surprising if McScam eventually ended up at Universal, Warner Bros. or another major distributor.
Complicating things further, HBO's McMillions could yet have a say in the matter. If the documentary sparks further interest in the McDonalds' Monopoly scandal, Disney might be more inclined to press ahead with production on McScam, capitalizing on the newfound interest in the case. If the series is a flop, or is fairly cinematic in its presentation, Disney could finally ax the project entirely, citing either a demonstrable lack of interest or HBO beating them to the punch.
McMillions premieres February 3rd on HBO.