AGBO’s Joe Russo will direct all episodes of “Citadel” Season 2, making him the latest filmmaker to tackle an entire season at once. Prime Video announced the news alongside confirming what’s been known for a few months: “Citadel” is returning for a second season. Executive producer David Weil is also returning as showrunner.
“AGBO is thrilled to embark on this next phase of the spyverse with Jen, Vernon, and the entire team at Amazon,” executive producers Anthony and Joe Russo said in a statement. “The innovative storytelling of ‘Citadel’ has paved the way for an incredible, worldwide collaboration with creatives in front of and behind the camera.”
Russo joins the ranks of Steven Soderbergh (“The Knick”), Sam Esmail (“Mr. Robot”) and Bill Hader (“Barry”) as the latest to direct an entire season of TV solo. And he’ll be doing so without his brother Anthony Russo, with whom he directed feature films like “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers Endgame” and the upcoming Netflix sci-fi feature “The Electric State.”
It’s far from Russo’s first stint in TV, however, as the brothers initially made their bones as principal directors on shows like “Arrested Development” and “Community” before joining the Marvel universe with “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”
“Citadel,” which stars Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas and features Lesley Manville and Stanley Tucci, premiered its first season on May 26. It is the streamer’s second most-watched new original series outside the U.S. and fourth most-watched worldwide, with Amazon touting it as a massive international hit.
“’Citadel’ is a truly global phenomenon,” Amazon and MGM Studios head Jennifer Salke said. “Our goal was always to create a new franchise rooted in original IP that would grow Prime Video’s international audience. This show has drawn an outsize number of new international customers to Prime Video. Its massive worldwide debut audience is a testament to Joe and Anthony Russo’s remarkable vision, the incredible talents of Richard Madden, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Lesley Manville and Stanley Tucci, and the tireless work of the creative teams, cast, and crew.”
In addition to the Russo brothers, showrunner David Weil, AGBO’s Mike Larocca, Angela Russo-Otstot, and Scott Nemes and Midnight Radio’s Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner, and Scott Rosenberg, and Newton Thomas Sigel and Patrick Moran serve as executive producers.
“Citadel” is the debut of a global franchise, with subsequent series traversing the globe with interconnected stories. Each “Citadel” series is locally created, produced, and filmed in-region. Series are already underway in Italy and India, respectively, starring Matilda De Angelis, Varun Dhawan, and Samantha Ruth Prabhu.
Along with the renewal announcement, the first episode of “Citadel” will be available to stream free without membership on both Prime Video and the ad-supported service Amazon Freevee beginning May 26 for one month in the U.S. and in more than 240 countries and territories outside the U.S. from May 26 to May 28.
