‘Citadel’, Prime Video’s upcoming espionage series, traveled to Mumbai for its Asia Pacific premiere.

The series’ main actors, Richard Madden, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas sat down for a conversation ahead of the premiere and revealed what went into creating this spy franchise.

‘Citadel’ was created by Amazon Studios and Russo Brothers’ AGBO, with David Weil acting as showrunner and executive producer. It will premiere exclusively on Prime Video on April 28 with two episodes, and one episode will be released weekly until May 26, and the event was held in St.Regis Hotel Mumbai.

“We are excited to open the first window to the great universe of Citadel, and thrilled that we get to host the Asia Pacific premiere in Mumbai,” said Gaurav Gandhi, Vice-President, of Asia Pacific, Prime Video. “Citadel is the beginning of a new, ambitious, landmark franchise—one built on a completely original IP—with interconnected stories that traverse the globe. This is an amazing way to create a diverse global community of storytellers and make entertainment truly borderless. The popularity of the genre, the novelty of the concept, and the magic of the Russo Brothers, David Weil, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Richard Madden, and everyone else involved with Citadel, give us confidence that audiences will love this truly global series.”

“Over 75% of Prime Video India’s customers watch international shows and movies in English or local languages on the service. With localisation in Indian languages, over 25% of the total viewing time of international shows and movies is now in local languages. Keeping that in mind, we’ll be releasing Citadel not just in English and Hindi, but also in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam,” said Sushant Sreeram, country director, Prime Video, India. “With Citadel, we are building an interconnected universe that takes borderless entertainment up a notch. Each Citadel series is locally created, produced, and filmed in-region, and stars top talent, forming a distinct global franchise. We are thrilled to be a part of the global Citadel universe and build this franchise together with an Indian instalment that is currently in production. I am certain that our customers in India will appreciate the scale and ambition that we are trying to bring to storytelling through Citadel.”

Priyanka Chopra Jonas who plays Nadia Sinh said, “When Jennifer Salke, who is the head of Amazon Studios, presented Citadel to me, she wanted to create an international, global franchise – an original IP that truly connects the world. Amazon strongly believes in diversity; and true diversity is represented internationally, not just by having different skin tones, but also by hearing the way people speak, actually delving into the culture. And this show has incredible ability to span across every country and continent. So, I didn’t even know the story and I said yep, doing it.”

Actor Richard Madden who plays Mason Kane shared, “Citadel has been incredibly physically demanding. But I think that’s what is dreamy. It’s not simply a gun show or a fight sequence. This is how these two characters interact physically, and how they dance together.  We learn in each action sequence a little more about the two of them. Just like in the drama scenes, the stakes are so high because of the adrenaline of what’s going on. The show just works both in the drama and action sequences.”

The Russo Brothers’ AGBO and writer David Weil executive produce ‘Citadel’. Along with Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden, Stanley Tucci and Lesley Manville play pivotal parts in the six-episode series.

This spy series, which takes viewers around the globe, will premiere exclusively on Prime Video on April 28 with two episodes, followed by one episode released weekly until May 26.

The worldwide series will be available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and other international languages in 240 countries and territories.