Richard Madden’s $300 million “Citadel” receives terrible reviews - will Hollywood finally sour on the Russo Bros.?

I'm just about to watch this. OP's Rotten Tomatoes link shows the critics thought it was average but the fans loved it.

Anyway watched it yet?

The show literally premiered today. Fans did not “love it.” Insane fangirls logged in to elevate the score before even bothering to watch the series.

Yeah I wondered that too R2. Agreed. Rabid fangurls left all those reviews. OK I'll give it a watch.

LOL. I meant I was R1.

Reddit seems pretty split on it from what I could see. Even the ones who liked it say it's just okay. The problem is that a non-fantasy show that doesn't rely on special effects and purpose-built worlds can't be "just okay" after you've spent $300 million on it.

Brittany Witherspoon thinks it’s “tremendous.”

If you have to go all the way down to Screen Rant to find a good review, you have a problem.

How’s Froy holding up?

I don't know which is worse - “formulaic”… “generic”… “derivative”… “cliched”… “boring”… “bland”… “cheap-looking”… and expensive or to have such a high audience rating for such a series.

It says a LOT about audiences that they actually like this kind of crap.

Madden will need some twinks to comfort him

[quote] Brittany Witherspoon thinks it’s “tremendous.”

Any relation to Reese Murphy-Spears?

[quote] How’s Froy holding up?

R8 Even the boytoy must know it's a dud because he hasn't liked anything on Madden's instagram for several posts now, nor have they even been in the same city for the past month or more.

R12 Is he allowed to while hubby is promoting and doing PR?

Richard Madden really threw his career down the toilet trying to cover up his sexuality. He went from the next big thing to a ghost because of those Brandon Flynn photos. He became a recluse and never recovered. Then all his projects bombed and his fans are bored by how private he is. It’s not even interesting following them.

Well, Froy did like the most recent post. Fangirls are cheering once again.

Richard Madden wasn’t heralded as The Next Big Thing on GOT, Kit Harington was

That hasn’t gone well either

IMO the problem with Dicky is that he chose flashy projects that his agent encouraged him to do and probably paid well, but didn’t pan out. In reality he may have had a better career if he had chosen to do Bodyguard Season 2.

No, Richard WAS hailed as the big new thing but fizzled after The Red Wedding.

Kit was not meant to be the main sex symbol at first. Closeted Richard was.

Oh, Richard.

A Sears Catalog disguised as a show

People HATE this show

There’s literally no buzz on social media for this, despite the massive marketing push it’s an instant bomb, I wonder if Amazon could potentially cancel the second season and figure it is more economic to pay the not-insignificant penalties than to actually be burdened with marketing a show no one wants to see. We saw this kind of thing with HBO’s second season of Perry Mason which just appeared with almost no promotion this spring.

[quote] Richard Madden really threw his career down the toilet trying to cover up his sexuality. He went from the next big thing to a ghost because of those Brandon Flynn photos. He became a recluse and never recovered. Then all his projects bombed and his fans are bored by how private he is. It’s not even interesting following them.

Being openly gay has NEVER helped a leading man in the whole history of Hollywood. I should know.

Yes but Matt Bomer is more of a Froy-caliber actor. Like even if Froy was straight he was never going to be a big leading man.

[quote] Yes but Matt Bomer is more of a Froy-caliber actor. Like even if Froy was straight he was never going to be a big leading man.

Uh, Bomer is definitely a higher caliber actor than Froy. C'mon now.

I'd say Bomer and Madden are fairly comparable. Both are competent, decent actors, but nothing all that unique or extraordinary. Their looks are their calling card.

Richard seems fairly awkward here.

The burning question is whether it’s as big a disappointment as Rings of Power which I was looking forward to then had to give up on after a couple of episodes. Richard is cute but life is too short for crappy or mediocre tv.

R25 He seems awkward when it comes to anything these days. He doesn't come off as a fully confident, grown man comfortable in his own skin.

R27 that’s what I thought. Tbh his body language and behaviour in that little clip reminded me of myself when I was maybe my teens or twenties and had very little self-confidence and wasn’t at all comfortable in my own skin. Madden is this highly successful and ridiculously handsome Hollywood actor yet clearly still has his issues, as we all do. Stanley Tucci on the other hand, while looking a fair bit older now, exudes confidence which is attractive.

Well Hollywood for most actors is kind of a bipolar business, the excitement and ego-building of being attached to a hit, and the crushing defeat of being attached to a failure. Tucci is a character actor who will always have steady well paying work; but Richard is the star, he is the face of the series, and not only it is a gigantic turkey, unlike almost all other turkeys which actors can bury quickly in the rear view mirror, because of the bizarre business deal which resulted in a two season order, he’s yoked to this thing for another year.

Think of this as analogous to what happened with Batman V Superman, the cast seemed optimistic when making it and genuinely devastated when it was crucified upon release, and then they had to go back and start filming Justice League right way, which turned out to be one of the unhappiest, drama-filled shoots ever.

[quote] Uh, Bomer is definitely a higher caliber actor than Froy.

String disagree, Bomer was a soap opera actor at Froy’s age, there’s no reason why Froy wouldn’t be able to have a similar career path. A pleasant actor who coasts on a beautiful face.

Richard is the real deal, he can actually act circles around those two.

Matt Bomer has a way better career than Richard Madden. He’s not a leading man but he’s a character actor, which I don’t think he’d have ever been had he not come out as gay. He’d have been a failed leading actor who disappeared had he not come out.

It doesn’t matter if Madden is the better actor, Matt is better looking, he’s a non-recluse who will work events and the red carpet and interviews, and he has more personality.

Madden has absolutely nothing. A man hiding a secret. That he’s gay.

[quote]Matt Bomer has a way better career than Richard Madden.

Madden makes more money than Bomer.

Matt Bomer is not really a character actor, he’s just kind of niche lead. If he is a lead in a project and the whole thing revolves around him, he can do OK but if you put him in an ensemble piece he fades right into the background (Magic Mike, AHS, Boys in the Band).

Richard is a star and a star is the person who is always the most interesting person on the screen even when they are not the main character.

R33 Yeah but his movies have sucked. He hasn’t done anything notable since “Rocketman” and that’s a stretch. He was big during “Bodyguard”.

He hasn’t done anything because he’s been filming this thing. Duh.

Some people think show business projects just appear miraculously like hard candies in grandma’s purse.

He's also far too lean. So now his face is gaunt. Josh Segarra has the same issue in Scream 6: he is 36 but his face makes him appear to be 10 years older.

[quote] Richard is a star and a star is the person who is always the most interesting person on the screen even when they are not the main character.

If Madden is such a star, why does his stuff bomb so much these days? Why isn't he getting better picks at top projects (he couldn't even land the Gladiator gig)? Even in ensemble things, Richard also fades to the back. In Eternals, the other actors took attention in the film, even with less screen time, and even in this new show, folks seem to be talking far more about Chopra and Tucci than Richard. And if a star is "the most interesting person on the screen", why doesn't that translate into him being a real household name (of which he's really not, not in the way his fans think he is), and major projects being sold on his name and image alone? I mean, the man isn't even interesting in real life in interviews, press, etc. He comes off defensive and guarded, and practically lives as a recluse. That's not star power.

Richard Madden will always be too short for that gesture.

Bomer is like a Ken doll who can deliver lines. I'm surprised he didn't get the part in Barbie.

Madden is like his little sister, Skipper.

Wow, Amazon using its shows as interactive product catalogs is either brilliant or the most cynical development of the streaming era.

I was thinking about watching this, but everything about it just seems so generic. It really does look like an AI-generated series.

What’s the story with Richard and Froy? Are they still spotted together?

Sometimes they are striped r41.

R37

BECAUSE NOBODY EVER SAID LIFE IS FAIR

With this being such a colossal bomb I wonder if they could potentially move this to FreeVee for Season 2. At least get some money back.

[quote]I was thinking about watching this, but everything about it just seems so generic.

I watched the first two episodes, and generic is exactly the right term for it.

NGL Richard seems somewhat ashamed of it.

[quote] What’s the story with Richard and Froy? Are they still spotted together?

R41 As for pap pics, they have not been spotted together since last summer (when Froy was caught hiding behind the pillar on the hotel balcony in Italy). Since then, nothing. As for this year, Richard has been promoting Citadel all over the place, and is also shooting his new movie in Greece. Froy has been living in LA.

Read between the lines

“ “Citadel, the #1 title on Prime! In its series debut, this show attracted one of the largest global audiences in the history of Prime Video – such an incredible performance for new and original IP,” Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke wrote on Instagram.”

The thing with streaming outlets is they keep all real stats behind closed doors, and much of what they do put out is PR propaganda to hype the products. We've seen plenty of shows do well enough, supposedly, in the top tens of these various streaming outlets (some even number 1), and then only end up cancelled too after 1 season. So who really knows.

That said, if they really do make another season, they don't need to spend 300 million. It's obviously getting a major budget cut.

Great points R49. It’s also worth noting that Amazon is getting a 25 million (?? Correct me if I am wrong on the amount) tax break to film season 2 in California. Plus it will not be filming under the Covid protocols they had to follow in 2021 and early 2022 and they have a creative team in place then seem to be pleased with, so reshoots should be minimal. There should be no way season 2 of this show is close to 300 million and if it is, something is very wrong!

She was on stern show and she is insufferable. She’s so full of herself and he fake gushing over her obvious Mary of a Husband is the worst case of acting. Her fake “I got bad plastic surgery because I needed sinus surgery not to make myself for white and marketable” is laughable.

[quote] An orphaned teenager traverses the American West with a sweet but mysterious robot and an eccentric drifter in search of her younger brother.

Only other thing the Russo bros have coming out is this starring Chris Pratt on Netflix. It sounds so terrible it may actually finally finish them off.

Madden was best in Bodyguard and Bomer was best in White Collar.

It failed to Nielsen chart