‘Citadel’ cost ‘$300M’ to Amazon

Amazon’s splashed an insane amount of $300 million on Citadel, which has only six episodes of 40 minutes, as per The Hollywood Reporter.

The bombshell report adds the Russo brothers’ firing of original showrunner Josh Appelbaum due to creative differences shot up the series’ cost.

“We felt like it needed some more character work early to draw people into the show,” said Mike Larocca, the president and co-founder of the Russos’ production company AGBO. “It was that straightforward.”

Coupled with the exit of the initial showrunner, the rehiring of another creator David Weil, with a source snitched to the outlet that a “huge bunch of material” was scrapped.

The material was added, written and shot, which ultimately ballooned the reported $300 million price tag.

However, producer Anthony Russo said the steep price of the show seems, because, to the Russos and Prime Video, it’s uncharted territory.

“We love the ability to communicate with people all over the world, and to connect people through stories,” Russo told the outlet.

“Amazon and [Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke] basically brought us a brand-new opportunity to do that at a scale that’s never been attempted before.”