The Russo Bros. New Amazon Spy Series CITADEL Will Be One of the Most Expensive Shows Ever Produced
Joe and Anthony Russo have been producing a big spy series for Amazon titled Citadel, and due to behind-the-scenes drama involving budget overruns and a major creative team overhaul, the project has become one of the most expensive shows ever produced.
The budget for Citadel has ballooned to over $200 million. This has been a passion project for Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke, who was looking for a big project to make waves, and this one is an “Avengers-style spy show, with spies from key countries who come together for the ultimate mission.” The plan also included spinoffs that would see the spy characters “having their own adventures on their home turf. India, Italy and Mexico.”
Writers Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec (Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) were hired to develop the series, but they ended up turning in a cut of the pilot episode that the studio and producers didn’t like. There were also creative differences with the vision of the show that “led to the exit of half the creative team and has forced the show” which led to a round of expensive reshoots.
The initial budget for the seven-episode show was $160 million and it has since added $75 million. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series still holds the record of the highest budget for a TV series with $465 million for one season.
After the pilot series was shot with Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas set to star, things started to fall apart and “the production team behind Citadel began to crumble into factions.” According to THR, “Amazon had some reservations about early footage, with the Russos, who were less involved due to a focus on their own pricey action project, The Gray Man, parachuting in. This brought about creative differences and led to two competing cuts, one pushed by the Russos, the other by Appelbaum and Nemec. As weeks rolled on, other project commitments had whittled down the creative camps to two opposing forces, Joe Russo and Appelbaum, who was the series’ showrunner.”
As you might have guessed, Amazon chose to bet on the Russo Bros. and let Appelbaum go. One source said: “What should have happened was Joe turning to Josh and saying, ‘Let’s get together and fix this’ instead of going solo. That’s not what partners are supposed to do.”
After Appelbaum was fired, director Brian Kirk (Game of Thrones and Penny Dreadful), who directed five out of the seven episodes, also left, as did line producer Sarah Bradshaw, among others.
As for what the creative differences that led to the conflict entailed, it’s explained that Appelbaum’s version of the pilot “introduced the spies via a spectacular ski and hang-gliding sequence, setting up a spy-vs.-spy situation before flash-forwarding the story five years, with the heroes having no memory of their previous occupation.” Russo’s version, however, “began at that five-year mark, jettisoning the action sequence.”
That seems like something that could have been easily worked out, but there was obviously a lot more happening behind the scenes. Amazon hired David Weil (Hunters) to rewrite the show and to give it more grounding. They also brought on veteran cinematographer, Thomas Sigel, who had helmed two of the episodes of Citadel, to direct the reshoots.
It seems like a mess of a situation for Amazon and Citadel. Appelbaum, Nemec and their Midnight Radio banner no longer have a first-look deal at AGBO. But, they are once again working with Amazon on a feature film titled Heads of State with Idris Elba and John Cena attached to star.
I hope that the Citadel series will be worth the drama and the money that Amazon is pumping into it! The Russos have a great track record, though, and I’m sure Amazon bet on the right horse.