The Italian installment of Russo Brothers’ Citadel, a global spy thriller franchise has begun production in Italy, Variety has reported. The series features rising Italian star, Matilda De Angelis. The feature is being directed by Arnaldo Catinari (Suburra: Blood on Rome) and written by Alessandro Fabbri (1994, The Trial) who is also the head writer.
Created by Anthony and Joe Russo along with Patrick Moran, Citadel is an expansive global spy thriller franchise with the main series set in the US along with local spinoff installments set in Italy, India, and Mexico. Prominent Italian producer Cattleya, which previously produced features like Gomorrah and the upcoming Spaghetti Western series Django is behind the local production. Riccardo Tozzi, founder and president of Cattleya described the Italian series as “a spy story with elements of action, adventure, and fantasy.” Adding, “the genre is simply unprecedented for Italy and for Cattleya. Yet, even with its own creative and stylistic uniqueness, it fits into the fascinating Citadel universe.”
The Italian production marks the first local production launched within the Citadel franchise. Amazon Studios’ head of Italian originals, Nicole Morganti, revealed that she’s “thrilled for Italy to lead the charge as the first local original in this visionary franchise from AGBO.” The Russo Brothers recently helmed The Gray Man, another spy thriller starring Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling, and Ana De Armas, that included talents like Dhanush K Raja and was received well by fans. Now with the globe-tottering franchise format of Citadel, they seem to create more opportunities to connect with talents from around the world.
After announcing some major creative overhauls and budget expansion, last month, Citadel is co-produced by Tozzi, Marco Chimenz, Giovanni Stabilini, Gina Gardini, and Amazon Studios, with AGBO’s Russos, Mike Larocca, Angela Russo-Ostot, Scott Nemes, and David Weil, who will oversee production of all local series made within the Citadel universe. Josh Applebaum, André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg serve as executive producers for Midnight Radio.
The first-to-launch mothership will feature Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Quantico, Matrix 4), Richard Madden (Bodyguard, Game of Thrones), and Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games saga). Other local productions of Citadel are also in works with the Indian installment set to be developed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. (The Family Man).
The global spy thriller will exclusively air on Prime Video in over 240 countries and territories worldwide though no release window has been revealed yet. Meanwhile, you can check out Chopra's comments about the series below: