Citadel’s Future Uncertain at Amazon After Jennifer Salke’s Exit!

Yesterday’s unexpected resignation of Jennifer Salke, the head of Amazon MGM Studios, has shifted focus to one of her passion projects, the international espionage series Citadel.

Conceived by Salke, Citadel represented one of her boldest moves during her leadership at Amazon MGM Studios—a costly, sprawling venture spanning multiple series and countries, brought to life with the collaboration of the Russo brothers’ AGBO.

With Salke’s departure, the second season of the flagship series featuring Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra-Jonas is in post-production. Meanwhile, the future hangs in the balance for the first two international spinoffs, the Italian Citadel: Diana and the Indian Citadel: Honey Bunny, which premiered their inaugural seasons in September and December, respectively.

The primary series has faced significant challenges in its development and production of Season 1, including numerous changes in showrunners and extensive reshoots, pushing the budget over $200 million for just six episodes. Despite these costs and its decent, though not stellar, viewership—making it Prime Video’s second-most watched new original series internationally and fourth globally after 24 days, with modest viewership in the U.S.—the decision by Amazon to greenlight a second season was unexpected.

Nearly five years elapsed between Amazon’s initial announcement of Citadel in 2018 and its debut in 2023. It could be another three years before Season 2 is available, with reports from THR suggesting a shift from a planned fall 2025 release to potentially spring 2026.

A spokesperson for Amazon MGM Studios has opted not to comment, as there has been no official release date announced for Season 2 of Citadel yet.

While the spinoffs Citadel: Diana and Citadel: Honey Bunny have performed well in their respective local markets, they haven’t achieved global success. Renewal seems more promising for Honey Bunny, but both are possibly facing cancellation.

Decision-making on these two spinoffs seems imminent, though any plans for additional offshoots in other countries like Mexico are currently paused as the focus shifts to completing Season 2 of the main series.

With Salke no longer in her role, Citadel will need to surpass the achievements of its first season to secure further renewals.

The series chronicles the adventures of the spy agency Citadel and its formidable foe, the syndicate Manticore. Other stars include Stanley Tucci and Lesley Manville.

Produced by Amazon MGM Studios and AGBO, Citadel is executive produced by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Angela Russo-Otstot, and Scott Nemes for AGBO, with David Weil as the showrunner and executive producer.