Amazon's spy thriller Citadel, starring Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden, has come under scrutiny after a Bloomberg report claimed that company's CEO Andy Jassy has sought a thorough analysis of the budget for major shows that have underperformed in the last nine months. The first season of the show was released earlier this year and did not register among the top 10 most-watched streaming programmes in the US in any week, according to Nielsen. Citadel cost the company $250 million (more than Rs 2,000 crore), Bloomberg said, calling it "Amazon's liberal spending".
"People familiar with the matter" told the outlet that six major shows have underperformed in the past nine months.
The report coincides with Amazon's plans to lay off tens of thousands of employees and abandon projects that are no longer deemed necessary. In recent months, Amazon has invested $100 million each in shows like Daisy Jones & the Six, The Power, Dead Ringers, and The Peripheral, none of which managed to make it onto Nielsen's list of the top 10 most-watched shows in the US.
Even The Rings of Power, which cost Amazon more than $400 million, failed to hold on to most of its viewers over the course of the season despite a great debut, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
As part of Amazon's ambitious spending strategy under the guidance of Amazon Studios chief Jen Salke, the company pursued deals with prominent talents such as Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Jordan Peele, and Donald Glover for exclusive content, but the results have fallen short of expectations. Additionally, Amazon has a deal with Priyanka Chopra, which has not yielded substantial outcomes either.
The first season of Citadel was intended to have a budget of $20 million per episode and run for eight episodes but the budget ballooned, partly due to the pandemic. However, only six episodes were aired. To mitigate some of the production challenges faced in the first season, Joe Russo has been appointed as the director for each episode of the show's second season, reportedly receiving a payment of $25 million for the role.
Though Amazon celebrated Citadel's success and even announced a second season, it wants shows made in English to connect with viewers in their biggest market, the US.
Speaking to Variety in June, Amazon Studios' head of drama series Odetta Watkins admitted that Citadel needs "time to grow", as the US audience has become "jaded".
