Amazon’s Citadel Reportedly A $250 Million Flop

It’s no secret Citadel was a bit of a bust… but it also cost Amazon $250 million to make.

A new report from Bloomberg has shed light on the mediocre spy thriller, which apparently cost Amazon a lot more than we first thought. “No show illustrates Amazon’s liberal spending better than Citadel, a global spy thriller that cost more than $250 million for one season,” the report revealed.

What’s worse is how badly Citadel did when it comes to ratings. Despite being one of the most expensive shows in television history, it failed to make any kind of impression on viewers. Worryingly, it failed to even enter the top 10 most-watched streaming shows in the U.S. in any week since it debuted on April 28, 2023.

It did manage to enter the top 10 for streaming originals, but even that was a hollow victory. According to Bloomberg, it trailed behind Netflix’s Barbecue Showdown. Yes, really.

During an interview with Variety, Amazon Studios’ head of drama series Odetta Watkins insisted the show just needed some time to grow. “I can tell you from a creative perspective, for me, it’s a victory, because the show was conceived to be able to speak to the world,” she said. “Every show is not going to hit in every place on the same level, but as the franchise grows, I feel like the numbers will grow all over, including domestically.”

“I think there are so many chapters to this,” she added. “I think you’ll start to see the audience start to respond differently as it goes on. In the U.S., we are very jaded and watch everything with a discerning eye, like, ‘Hmm, that [season] wasn’t as good as the last one.’ I just think [Citadel] needs time to grow.”

However, others within Amazon aren’t quite so enthusiastic about the flop. Amazon is reportedly examining how much the studio spends on original TV and programming. Considering its budget, Citadel is likely to come under a fair amount of scrutiny. That said, Amazon has doubled down on the show since its mediocre launch, commissioning a second season and largely hailing the show as a success.

IGN’s Citadel review gave it 6/10 and said: “Just in the first three episodes, Prime Video’s Citadel is so packed with spy cliches it’s hard to tell what it wants to actually be, alternating between feeling like a goofy romantic comedy ode to classic James Bond and a twistier science fiction-driven drama. Some great action sequences and very charismatic stars go a long way, but that might not be enough to anchor the sprawling franchise Amazon is so ambitiously building.”

Want to read more about Citadel? Check out who starred in Amazon’s spy thriller and watch the action-packed Citadel trailer to see what you’ve been missing.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.