Mumbai: Prime Video’s upcoming global spy series, Citadel, journeyed to Mumbai for the epic Asia Pacific premiere. Ahead of the grand evening, the lead cast of the series, Richard Madden, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas sat down for a chat and revealed what went into making this spy franchise. Created by Amazon Studios and Russo Brothers’ AGBO, with David Weil serving as showrunner and executive producer, Citadel will premiere exclusively on Prime Video, with two episodes dropping on 28 April, and one episode rolling out weekly through 26 May.
““We are excited to open the first window to the great universe of Citadel, and thrilled that we get to host the Asia Pacific premiere in Mumbai,” said Prime Video VP Asia Pacific Gaurav Gandhi. “Citadel is the beginning of a new, ambitious, landmark franchise—one built on a completely original IP—with interconnected stories that traverse the globe. This is an amazing way to create a really diverse global community of storytellers, and make entertainment truly borderless. The popularity of the genre, the novelty of the concept and the magic of the Russo Brothers, David Weil, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Richard Madden, and everyone else involved with Citadel, gives us confidence that audiences will love this truly global series.”
“Over 75 per cent of Prime Video India’s customers watch international shows and movies in English or local languages on the service. With localisation in Indian languages, over 25 per cent of the total viewing time of international shows and movies is now in local languages. Keeping that in mind, we’ll be releasing Citadel not just in English and Hindi, but also in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam,” said Sushant Sreeram, country director, Prime Video India country director Sushant Sreeram. He added, “With Citadel, we are building an interconnected universe that takes borderless entertainment up a notch. Each Citadel series is locally created, produced, and filmed in-region, and stars top talent, forming a distinct global franchise. We are thrilled to be a part of the global Citadel universe and build this franchise together with an Indian instalment that is currently in production. I am certain that our customers in India will appreciate the scale and ambition that we are trying to bring to storytelling through Citadel.”
Jonas who plays Nadia Sinh said, “When Jennifer Salke, who is the head of Amazon Studios, presented Citadel to me, she wanted to create an international, global franchise - an original IP that truly connects the world. Amazon strongly believes in diversity; and true diversity is represented internationally, not just by having different skin tones, but also by hearing the way people speak, actually delving into the culture. And this show has incredible ability to span across every country and continent. So, I didn’t even know the story and I said yep, doing it.”
Madden who plays Mason Kane shared, “Citadel has been incredibly physically demanding. But I think that's what really is dreamy. It's not simply a gun show or a fight sequence. This is how these two characters interact physically, and how they dance together. We learn in each action sequence a little more about the two of them. Just like in the drama scenes, the stakes are so high because of the adrenaline of what's going on. The show just works both in the drama and action sequences.”
Citadel is executive produced by the Russo Brothers’ AGBO and showrunner David Weil. Alongside Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden, the six episode series features Stanley Tucci and Lesley Manville in pivotal roles. This thrilling spy series, that takes viewers around the world, will premiere exclusively on Prime Video starting 28 April with two episodes and then one episode rolling out weekly through 26 May. The global series will stream across 240 countries and territories in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and other international languages.
