Priyanka Chopra’s upcoming series Citadel becomes the second most expensive series to ever be made

It’s official, Amazon Prime’s spy thriller series Citadel starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas, 40, and Richard Madden, 36, is the second most expensive series to make. 

The six-episode first season cost $300 million to make. That’s $50 million per episode. 

Reportedly, the series is a big passion project for the Head of Amazon Studios, Jennifer Salke. 

Part of the reason for the inflated cost is the fact that the series was renewed for a second season before the first season dropped. 

Prime Video is looking to expand Citadel into a franchise with spin-offs.

Spies like us: The six-episode first season cost $300 million to make. That’s $50 million per episode

Other factors also drove the cost up, including the break in production for the pandemic, calling the actors and crew back to begin shooting again and the high cost of COVID 19 protocols that was not factored in when the series was greenlit.

Priyanka also fought for equal pay with her male co-star Madden – something she’s never had before in her nearly 20 year career.

‘If your contribution, time and what you bring to the table is the same as your male counterpart, there is a very serious conversation to be had about compensation,’ she said.

‘It was not a conversation I was encouraged to have for a very long time because it was just a given when I started out in movies that your male counterpart would have a substantially larger pay check,’ she continued.

‘I think my generation of female actors really stood up for themselves,’ she added.

The actress, who is married to Jonas Brother Nick Jonas, plays the character of Nadia Sinh.

The synopsis for the series reads, ‘The global spy agency Citadel has fallen and the memory of its agents has been erased. Now, the powerful Manticore crime syndicate is filling the power vacuum. Citadel agents must remember their past and find the strength to fight back.’ 

The mom of Malti Marie has sustained an injury while shooting Citadel that has left her with a small scar on her gorgeous face.

Lady in red: Priyanka makes as much as her co-star Madden as she fought for pay equity

Inflated cost: Part of the reason for the inflated cost is the fact that the series was renewed for a second season before the first season dropped

The accident happened during a rainy London day near the end of filming for the day.

‘The ground was wet, and I went an inch in front of where I was supposed to stop. So the camera came an inch closer to me and the matte box took out my eyebrow,’ she told Variety. 

‘But you know, I have a cool scar and a good story to tell. I just put some surgical glue on her and closed her up and finished the day,’ she said.

And that didn’t stop her from continuing with shooting: ‘I didn’t want to come back and have to do that whole thing again,’ she explained. 

Other factors: Other factors also drove the cost up, including the break in production for the pandemic, calling the actors and crew back to begin shooting again and the high cost of COVID 19 protocols that was not factored in when the series was greenlit

Spin offs: The series is a passion project for the Head of Amazon Studios, Jennifer Salke, who hopes to spin the series off into other series

‘I was just like, ‘Let’s just get it done.’ I had fake blood and mud and stuff on my face anyway so you couldn’t event tell.’ 

And the Quantico star isn’t itching to be her own stunt double again anytime soon. 

‘I didn’t want to do my stunts,’ she told the outlet.’I trust myself to do it. The mandate from the filmmakers was, “We would love for the actors’ faces to be seen as much as you can and where you feel safe.”‘ 

For what it’s worth, the most expensive series to make is Amazon Prime’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power at $58 million per episode.