Heard of the Amazon Studios show Citadel? It stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden. The show reportedly has a huge budget of $200 plus million and it has already been renewed for a second season. So why hasn’t anyone seen it or even heard about it?
On Rotten Tomatoes, Citadel holds a 53% critic and 64% audience rating. Also, it failed to show up in the Top 10 weekly Neilsen streaming rankings. It also couldn’t generate much chatter on social media. So what’s going on with the show? Amazon Studios’ Head of Drama, Odetta Watkins, blamed the viewers.
Amazon Studio Head Defended Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ Citadel By Rebuking Fans
In an interview with Variety, Odetta Watkins, the Head of Drama Series for Amazon Studios, defended the costly spy show starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden. It ideally should have blown everyone away, but didn’t even register on people’s radar. Watkins was of the view that the show had succeeded internationally and will grow as more chapters come out. The boss said:
“I can tell you from a creative perspective, for me, it’s a victory because the show was conceived to be able to speak to the world. [Granted], every show is not going to hit in every place on the same level, but as the franchise grows, I feel like the numbers will grow all over, including domestically.”
Watkins then specifically talked about the U.S. viewers and seemingly referred to them as jaded people who watch every series too critically. She said the show still needed time to grow an audience. The Amazon Studios executive said:
“I think there are so many chapters to this. I think you’ll start to see the audience start to respond differently as it goes on. In the U.S., we are very jaded and watch everything with a discerning eye, like, ‘Hmm, that [season] wasn’t as good as the last one.’ I just think [‘Citadel’] needs time to grow.”
But will the show actually find a stable and large audience over time when there was no interest in it when it was fresh and had debuted with tonnes of promotions? That’s the million-dollar question. But Amazon Studios has thought ahead. It is already planning for Citadel to have spin-offs set in different parts of the world.
Amazon Studios Wanted Citadel To Be Truly International
Citadel is reportedly only behind Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power in one aspect- budget. The spy series starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden in lead roles is reportedly the second-most expensive TV show ever made. Amazon Studios has grand plans for the series and had greenlit a season 2 even before season 1 debuted.
The Citadel Spyverse will be expanded internationally. As in, there are spin-offs set in India, Mexico, Spain, and the Italian Alps. The first spin-off is going to be Citadel: Diana, set in Italy. It will star Matilda De Angelis, an Italian actress, in the titular role. The Indian spin-off will star Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu. It now remains to be seen if these spin-offs can pull the show out of its rut.
Citadel is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: Variety
