“Citadel” star Priyanka Chopra Jonas is pushing back against reports that the production via Amazon’s Prime Video was strained with pricey reshoots and creative differences.
“Every production, especially one of this scale, will have growing pains, so it’s not unique to us,” Chopra Jonas told TheWrap. “It took a year and a half to make this [series], we had multiple crews working at the same time, we had three units operating for months, I think, because there was just so much to be done and so much to be captured.”
Chopra Jonas also noted that she heard EP Joe Russo mention in an interview that the numbers circulating regarding production cost are “apparently a mishap and untrue.” In September 2022, The Hollywood Reporter reported the action series was on track to become the second most expensive show ever made with a budget nearing $465 million.
“We had multiple studios that we worked out of, we had local crews around the world that contributed to this one particular show,” Chopra Jonas continued. “This one particular season, we had writers around the world that we’re creating threads that connected all of these different shows together.”
The series, which premieres April 28 on Prime Video, follows former Citadel agents Mason Kane (Richard Madden) and Nadia Sinh (Chopra Jonas) as they attempt to rebuild the spy agency with the help of agent lead Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci) after it fell to operatives of the shadowy syndicate Manticore eight years prior.
Billed as a “large-scope, multi-layered international event series,” the first season is expected to build a franchise with spin-offs taking place around the world — an aspect Chopra Jonas says created “hurdles” for the “ginormous undertaking.”
“When you’re trying to push the envelope, and you’re trying to … create something that pushes the envelope of entertainment a little bit further, you’re bound to have hurdles,” Chopra Jonas said. “I think that we pushed past all of that, because all of us really cared … about what the possibility of the show could be, and you could see that with enthusiasm.”
The first two episodes of “Citadel” premiere April 28 on Prime Video, with successive episodes releasing Fridays through May 26.
