Prime Video on Monday unveiled teaser footage, plot details and an Oct. 10 launch date for “Citadel: Diana,” the hotly anticipated spy show starring Matilda De Angelis (“The Undoing”) that is part of the “Citadel” franchise.
Details of “Citadel: Diana” – which marks the streamer’s most ambitious Italian original to date – were unveiled during a gala evening presentation of Prime Video’s Italian slate held in the palatial Villa Miani on a hill overlooking the Eternal City.
The six-episode series is set in a near-future Milan, in 2030, where eight years earlier the independent global spy agency Citadel was wiped out by Manticore, the powerful enemy syndicate that manipulates the world from the shadows. Since then, Diana Cavalieri (De Angelis) – who is an undercover Citadel agent – is alone, “trapped behind enemy lines as a mole in Manticore,” as the provided synopsis puts it.
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When Diana finally sees a way out and the chance to disappear forever, her only way out is to trust “the most unexpected ally,” Edo Zani, heir of Manticore Italy and son of the head of the evil syndicate’s Italian unit who is vying for Manticore’s leadership against other European families.
Besides De Angelis, other previously announced “Citadel: Diana” cast members comprise Lorenzo Cervasio, Maurizio Lombardi, Julia Piaton, Thekla Reuten, Daniele Paoloni, Bernhard Schütz and Filippo Nigro.
“Citadel: Diana” is directed by Italy’s Arnaldo Catinari (“Suburra: Blood on Rome”) and developed by Alessandro Fabbri (“1992”), who is also the head writer and wrote the series with Ilaria Bernardini, Laura Colella, Gianluca Bernardini and Giordana Mari.
The high-end show is produced by Amazon MGM Studios with Cattleya, the company that is part of ITV Studios known for standout crime shows such as “Gomorrah” and “ZeroZeroZero.” The “Citadel: Diana” showrunner and executive producer is Gina Gardini – who shepherded both of the above series at Cattleya – with Riccardo Tozzi, Marco Chimenz, Giovanni Stabilini and Emanuele Savoini also serving as executive producers. Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Angela Russo-Otstot and Scott Nemes from AGBO, alongside David Weil (“Hunters”) also executive produced “Citadel: Diana” along with all series within the world of “Citadel.”
Midnight Radio also has executive producer credit on the series within the “Citadel” world.
“Citadel” originally debuted in April 2023. The series is meant to serve as a launch pad for multiple shows set in different countries that will all be connected via plot and characters. Besides “Citadel: Diana,” which will be this Italian series, an Indian series titled “Citadel: Honey Bunny” is also currently in the works.
The other two, previously announced, standout series in Prime Video’s Italy slate are:
- Costiera”: set on Italy’s iconic Amalfi Coast, directed by Emmy winner Adam Bernstein (“30 Rock,” “Breaking Bad”) and featuring Jesse Williams (“Take Me Out”) as the lead. The English-language series sees Williams play an Italian American former Marine named Daniel De Luca, who is a “problem solver” in one of the most exclusive hotels in the world in the picturesque Amalfi Coast town of Positano. It’s co-produced by Amazon Studios and Luca Bernabei for Lux Vide, which is Fremantle Group company. Under an innovative split-rights agreement – that has now been modified so that Prime Video has taken more territories than originally announced – “Costiera” will drop exclusively on the streamer in 2025 in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and in all English-speaking countries including Great Britain, Ireland, the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, while Fremantle will be handling sales in all other global territories.
- “The Bad Guy” The much anticipated second season of Italy’s most innovative mob show will drop on Prime Video in Italy on Dec. 5, while Fifth Season, the TV company previously known as Endeavor Content, is distributing internationally in tandem with RAI Cinema. The dark comedy series is produced by Indigo Film, the shingle behind Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscar winner “The Great Beauty.” It revolves around a Sicilian public prosecutor named Nino Scotellaro, played by Luigi Lo Cascio (“Lord of the Ants”), who devoted his whole life to fighting the Mafia and finds himself accused and condemned of being a mafioso himself. After faking his own death, he pulls offa Machiavellian revenge plan, becoming the “bad guy” that he had been unfairly turned into.
During its Rome presentation, Prime Video also announced several new Italian original movies, including Christmas comedy “When Santa Claus” (“Natale senza Babbo”) directed by young hotshot helmer Stefano Cipani (“My Brother Chases Dinosaurs,” “Fedeltà”). Produced by Amazon MGM Studios with Gaumont Italia, it stars Alessandro Gassmann (“Transporter: Extreme”) as Santa Claus, who is having an existential crisis and decides to take a vacation, leaving his wife, played by Luisa Ranieri (“The Hand of God” to have to roll up her sleeves to save the most special day of the year. Prime Video will release “When Santa Claus” globally on Dec. 25, 2025.
Other new Italian original movies in the Prime Video pipeline include romantic comedy “Non è un paese per single,” which traslates as “It’s not a country for singles.” The movie is based on a book by the same title by a popular Italian author whose pen name is Felicia Kingsley. Her novels are published in 16 countries. Produced by Amazon MGM Studios with Lucisano Media Group, the rom-com is directed by Laura Chiossone, who helmed the Italian Christmas comedy “I Hate Christmas” for Netflix.
Also coming to Prime Video globally from Italy is young adult romance “Love Me Love Me,” an adaptation of the first novel by Italy’s Stefania S, also a pen name, whose eponymous Wattpad trilogy has over 19 million reads, according to Prime Video. Written by Veronica Galli and Serena Tateo, “Love Me Love Me” will be co-produced by Lotus Production, which is part of Leone Film Group,and Amazon MGM Studios, with the support of Wattpad WEBTOON Studios.
