DEADLINE – EXCLUSIVE: Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Quantico) and Richard Madden (Bodyguard) are set to headline Citadel, Anthony and Joe Russo’s upcoming global thriller multi-series for Amazon Studios. The company is expected to announce the high-profile castings during its TCA executive session. Amazon also is announcing today that a local language production of the franchise will originate from Mexico, in addition to the previously announced versions in Italy and India. Madden and Chopra, who both have global profiles, will star in the U.S. “mothership” edition of the series.
Former ABC Studios president Patrick Moran has been working on Citadel since closing an overall deal at Amazon in October. As head of ABC Studios, he cast Indian movie star Chopra in her first major American television role as the lead of the studio’s ABC drama Quantico.
The epic Citadel franchise, a co-production with Midnight Radio, is described as action-packed spy series with a compelling emotional center. Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner, and Scott Rosenberg of Midnight Radio serve as writers and executive producers. Moran, Mike Larocca, and Joe and Anthony Russo serve as executive producers. The Italian series will be co-produced with Amazon Studios and Cattleya (Gomorrah), part of ITV Studios, and the Indian series will be developed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. (The Family Man) and produced with Amazon Studios.
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Former Quantico star Chopra Jonas recently starred in and co-produced The Sky is Pink, an independent foreign language film that premiered as an official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival. She’ll star in the upcoming Netflix films We Can Be Heroes by Robert Rodriguez, and an adaptation of the Man Booker Prize winning novel The White Tiger, which she is also Executive Producing. Additionally, Chopra Jonas is developing an “untitled” Indian wedding comedy with Mindy Kaling and Dan Goor for Universal, which she will co-produce and star in.
Scottish actor Madden is best known for his award winning portrayal of David Budd in Jed Mecurio’s Bodyguard for the BBC. He is currently in production on Chloe Zaho’s The Eternals in which he will portray Ikaris opposite Angelina Jolie. He was most recently seen in Sam Mendes’s critically-acclaimed feature 1917, which most recently won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Drama.
