Thurs And Antonio Russo they produced a great spying series for Amazon titled Citadeland due to the behind-the-scenes drama involving budget overruns and a major creative team overhaul, the project has become one of the most expensive shows ever produced.
The budget for Citadel has risen to over $ 200 million. This was a passion project for the head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salkewho was looking for a big project to cause a stir, and this is a “Avengers-style spy show, with spies from key countries coming together for the final mission. The plan also included spin-offs that would see the spy characters “have their own adventures on their territory. India, Italy and Mexico “.
Writers Josh Appelbaum And André Nemec (Mission: Impossible – Phantom Protocol And Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) were hired to develop the series, but ended up shooting a cut of the pilot episode that the studio and producers didn’t like. There were also creative differences with viewing the show which “led to the exit of half the creative team and forced the show,” which led to a round of expensive filming.
The initial budget for the seven-episode show was $ 160 million and has since added $ 75 million. The Lord of the Rings: The rings of power series still holds the record for the highest budget for a TV series with $ 465 million for one season.
After the pilot series was shot with Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas as the protagonists, things started to get worse and “the production team behind Citadel it began to crumble into factions ”. According to THR, “Amazon had some reservations about early footage, with the Russos being less involved due to the focus on their expensive action project. The gray man, parachuting. This led to creative differences and led to two competing cuts, one pushed by the Russians, the other by Appelbaum and Nemec. As the weeks passed, other project commitments had reduced the creative fields to two opposing forces, Joe Russo and Appelbaum, who was the showrunner of the series. “
As you may have guessed, Amazon chose to bet on Russo Bros. and let Appelbaum go. A source said, “What should have happened is that Joe turned to Josh and said, ‘Let’s get together and solve this problem’ instead of going it alone. That’s not what partners are supposed to do. “
After Appelbaum was fired, director Brian Kirk (game of Thrones And Terrible penny), who directed five of the seven episodes, left, as did the line producer Sarah Bradshaw, among others.
As for the creative differences that led to the conflict, it is explained that the pilot version of Appelbaum “introduced the spies via a spectacular ski and hang glider sequence, creating a spy situation before sending the flash forward story for five years. , with the heroes having no memory of their previous occupation. Russo’s version, however, “began in those five years, abandoning the action sequence”.
It seemed like something that could have been easily fixed, but obviously a lot of other things were happening behind the scenes. Amazon hired David Weil (Hunters) to rewrite the show and give it more foundations. They also involved a veteran of photography, Tommaso Sigillowho had directed two of the episodes of Citadelto direct the shoot.
It looks like a disaster for Amazon and Citadel. Appelbaum, Nemec and their Midnight Radio banner no longer have a first deal with AGBO. But they are once again working with Amazon on a movie called State leaders with Idris Elba And John Cena attached to the star.
I hope the Citadel series is worth the drama and the money Amazon is investing in it! The Russos have a great track record, though, and I’m sure Amazon has bet on the right horse.
by Joey Paur
Source: Geek Tyrant
