Just How Big is Citadel's Budget Per Episode? It Cost Amazon Over a $1M Per Minute
Fans are shocked that Amazon wasted so much money on such a short project.
On paper, Citadel looked like the perfect hit for Amazon Prime, with Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas in the lead roles and the Russo brothers as producers suggesting that the new sci-fi spy show would be a real spectacle to watch. However, when the first two episodes of the series finally arrived, people began to wonder where all the production money went.
Citadel not only looks pretty cheap but completely lacks the excitement that the Russo brothers promised. Here's how much this disaster cost the streaming giant.
Two years ago, as production of Citadel began, Amazon Prime announced that the series would have a budget of $165 million, with nearly $24 million spent on each episode. This news made the show the third most expensive TV project in history, surpassing blockbuster hits like Game of Thrones or Stranger Things. But things quickly got out of hand.
Last year, the Russos decided to drastically change the direction of the series, firing the showrunner and scheduling massive reshoots to fit their creative vision. This pushed the budget well over the $200-million mark, making the project even more expensive.
It was then revealed that the reshoots cost Amazon nearly $65 million, and with some other expenses, Citadel's first season reached its current cost — $300 million, or $50 million for an episode, or $1.5 million for a minute. Yikes.
People were shocked to hear that such a nondescript show had such a huge budget, and it's not surprising. While Rings of Power was a critical failure, it certainly looked like an expensive series, as the CGI and costumes in it were all top-notch. Citadel, on the other hand, looks nothing like $300 million and more like the smaller action series that Netflix churns out on a yearly basis and clearly doesn't waste as much money on.
Of course, only two of the show's six episodes have been released, but one thing is clear already — Amazon has made another huge mistake. Now the question arises about how the streaming service will expand Citadel into a franchise, as viewers clearly don't want to spend time in the world the Russo brothers have created.
Citadel Season 1 Episode 3 will arrive on Amazon Prime on May 5, 2023.