Amazon Prime Video is exploring more global franchise opportunities following the success of the Russo Brothers’ Citadel.

James Farrell, the streamer’s VP, International, told a Series Mania audience that it is “highly likely” his non-U.S. team will seek more Citadel-like universes across both scripted and unscripted. A Tomb Raider movie and TV series penned by Phoebe Waller-Bridge are already reported to be in the works.

“It’s such a cool way to take [subscribers] on a journey and no one has really done it before,” said Farrell.

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From the Russo’s AGBO, Midnight Radio, Cattleya and Amazon Studios, the spy thriller is airing as three versions from the U.S., India and Italy, starring the likes of Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. The U.S. version drops next month.

The idea was born from a conversation between Amazon Studios boss Jennifer Salke and the Russos, according to Farrell, who said they were discussing “what a global show looks like in the Amazon era.”

“Everyone loves spies and action and this is like a mixture of Mission Impossible and James Bond,” he added.

Farrell talked the audience through his international strategy, coming shortly after a post-MGM acquisition restructure which has seen Rola Bauer promoted to oversee the development and production of English-language originals for Prime Video outside of the U.S. Bauer’s team is a separate division from Amazon Studios’ Local Original Series & Movie content unit run by Farrell.

Farrell’s international approach in the main is to greenlight mid-range budget shows priced around $1M to $3M per episode or feature, which sit between U.S. tentpoles such as The Boys and cheaper fare.

“We want the U.S. and international slates to be complementary,” he added.

“We are asking where we are underserving. If we’ve got too much male-skewing content in the U.S. maybe we’ll look female skewing in different parts of the world. If female skew is covered, we will look to young adults. It’s amazing how all the slates start to complement each other.”

Due to its position as more than just a TV and movie streamer, Amazon Prime has been relatively immune from the global economic crisis’ impact on streamers and studios but Farrell said the team is being “responsible” with budgets nonetheless.

He described this approach as being “good corporate stewards.”

“It’s a tough time with wars and difficult political situations so we want to be thoughtful about what we spend,” he explained. “If we can make a movie with 20 locations instead of 30, or reduce number of episodes from eight to six, then we will do that. We want to be responsible.”

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