Citadel, the high-stakes science-fiction thriller starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden, has been renewed for a second season. In a tweet, Amazon Prime Video confirmed that Joe Russo — one half of the show’s executive producing duo, the Russo Brothers — will solely direct the entire second season. David Weil will resume show-running duties on the series, which according to Amazon is its fourth most-watched show worldwide. Apparently, the $300 million (roughly Rs. 2,482) crore budget for the six episodes has paid off in viewership, making it the second most expensive series in television history after The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Is. ,
“Citadel is a truly global phenomenon,” Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, said in a prepared statement. Diversity, “Our goal was always to create a new franchise rooted in original IP that would grow Prime Video’s international audience. The show has attracted a significant number of new international subscribers to Prime Video.” In addition to greenlighting season 2, she also confirmed that the premiere episode of Citadel is now available to watch for free globally without a Prime membership. Of course, users will still need to sign in to their Amazon accounts.
The interconnected global series comes from the Russo Brothers’ AGBO banner, through which the directors of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame have been experimenting with dramas and action-packed cases like Netflix’s The Gray Man. The first season of Citadel was primarily directed by Newton Thomas Siegel and Jessica Yu, although Russ took on some duties on unspecified episodes.
Citadel has been described as ‘an expansive and significant global event series’, with regional spin-offs set in India, Italy, Brazil, France and Mexico. The aforementioned US version follows Chopra Jonas and Madden as former elite agents who, after their memories are wiped, rebuild their lives under new identities. That is, until a former associate of the Citadel tracks them down and calls them back into the force to help take down the Manticore, a powerful crime syndicate.
The Indian spin-off version of the Citadel franchise was greenlit in December, starring Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in the lead – presumably as a pair of spies. Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK (Raj and DK) – best known for The Family Man – serve as showrunners, writers and directors on the show. Sita R. Menon (Go Goa Gone) has co-written Citadel India. An Italian-language production to be headlined by Matilda De Angelis (The Undoing) is also in the works at Amazon Studios.
Currently, there is no release window for Citadel Season 2. All six episodes of the first season are now available to stream on Prime Video.