“Avengers” filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo’s upcoming Amazon’s ‘Avengers-style’ spy thriller series “Citadel” has become one of the most expensive shows ever produced.
According to THR, differences in vision have led to the exit of half the creative team and has forced the show into a round of expensive reshoots. Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec (“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”) pen the seven-episode series.
Originally set to cost at least $160 million net for the season, a further $75 million has reportedly been added to that bill – putting it on track to become the second-most expensive show ever made behind only Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” launching today.
Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas star in the series, which follows spies from key countries who come together for the ultimate mission, with the plan being the show could generate local spinoffs in markets like India, Italy and Mexico.
It’s a show complicated enough that it involved shooting three units at once. Filming took place across most of 2021, with production wrapping in December. It was then, around Christmas, that the production team began to crumble as Amazon had reservations about early footage.
With the Russos busy finishing up their “The Gray Man” film for Netflix, things led to two competing cuts – one pushed by Joe Russo and the other by showrunner Josh Appelbaum.
Amazon backed the Russos and let Appelbaum go. With him went Brian Kirk, who directed five of the episodes, and line producer Sarah Bradshaw among others.
With the Russos’ AGBO company now in charge, Amazon has hired David Weil to rewrite the show and make it more grounded. In addition, veteran cinematographer Thomas Sigel (“Cherry) has taken over directing the reshoots, which ran through the spring and into early summer.
Source: THR
