Amazon CEO Andy Jassy Seeks answers after dismal Performance of Priyanka’s ‘Citadel’ despite ₹2000cr Budget

New Delhi, 6th July 2023: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has requested answers about why certain episodes cost as much as they do, and Citadel, starring Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden, is at the top of the list.

The spy series’ development was notoriously problematic, and it premiered earlier this year to dismal reviews and a mixed public response. However, it is estimated that it cost the firm $250 million (more than Rs 2000 crore) to produce.

According to a new Bloomberg article citing ‘people familiar with the situation,’ Jassy has requested a full budget audit for Amazon’s large series, six of which appear to have underperformed in the last nine months.

This comes as Amazon plans to lay off tens of thousands of staff and abandon initiatives that are no longer needed. In recent months, Amazon has spent $100 million on shows such as Daisy Jones & the Six, The Power, Dead Ringers, and The Peripheral, none of which made Nielsen’s list of the top ten most watched shows in the United States.

Even Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which reportedly cost Amazon $400 million, struggled to maintain its following during its first season.

Citadel, on the other hand, is attracting a lot of attention after Amazon rejected a version delivered by original creator Josh Appelbaum in favour of a new version that required at least $80 million more from executive producers Joe and Anthony Russo. Citadel only made it into Nielsen’s top ten once, trailing Netflix’s Barbecue Showdown.

As part of Amazon Studios chief Jen Salke’s big-spending new strategy, the corporation courted major talent such as Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Jordan Peele, and Donald Glover for first-look deals, which haven’t given the outcomes they’d hoped for. Amazon also has an agreement with Priyanka that hasn’t yielded anything.

Citadel’s first season was expected to cost $20 million each episode and last eight episodes. Only six were eventually telecast. Joe Russo has been designated director for each episode of the show’s second season in order to avoid some of the production issues that plagued the first season, although he will reportedly be paid $25 million for the job.

Odetta Watkins, Amazon Studios’ head of drama series, stated in June that Citadel needs “time to grow” because the US audience has gotten “jaded.” At an occasion, she emphasised that the programme is a ‘success’ from her standpoint because it was always designed for a global audience. Citadel was created by Amazon as a global franchise.

An Italian spinoff has already wrapped production, and an Indian spinoff starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Varun Dhawan is in the works.