Anthony Russo (born February 3, 1970) and Joseph Russo (born July 18, 1971), collectively known as the Russo brothers (), are American directors, producers, and screenwriters. They direct most of their work together. They are best known for directing four films in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

(MCU): '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' (2014), '' Captain America: Civil War'' (2016), '' Avengers: Infinity War'' (2018), and '' Avengers: Endgame'' (2019). ''Endgame'' grossed over $2.798 billion worldwide, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of all time. The brothers have also worked as directors and producers on the comedy series ''

Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

'' (2003–2005), ''

Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

'' (2009–2014), and '' Happy Endings'' (2011–2012). They won a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

for ''Arrested Development''.

Early life

Anthony Russo (born February 3, 1970) and Joseph Russo (born July 18, 1971) were born and raised in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, the sons of Patricia Gallupoli and attorney and judge

Basil Russo Basil M. Russo (born March 10, 1947) is an American attorney, politician of the Democratic Party, and judge. He was majority leader of the Cleveland City Council. Later he served as a judge of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas and a j ...

. Their parents were both of Italian descent. Their paternal and maternal families emigrated from

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

, respectively, fleeing poverty and settling in Ohio to work in steel mills. They attended Benedictine High School. Joe graduated from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

and majored in English and writing, while Anthony graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and majored in business before switching to English.

Career

The Russo brothers were graduate students at

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

(where Anthony studied law and Joe studied acting) when they began directing, writing, and producing their first feature, ''Pieces.'' They financed the film with student loans and credit cards. After viewing ''Pieces'' at the

Slamdance Film Festival The Slamdance Film Festival is an annual film festival focused on emerging artists. The annual week-long festival takes place in Park City, Utah, in late January and is the main event organized by the year-round Slamdance organization, which als ...

Steven Soderbergh Steven Andrew Soderbergh (; born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer and editor. A pioneer of modern independent cinema, Soderbergh is an acclaimed and prolific filmmaker. Soderbergh's direc ...

approached the duo and offered to produce their next film, along with his producing partner

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...

. This project was the crime comedy ''

Welcome to Collinwood ''Welcome to Collinwood'' is a 2002 American caper comedy film written and directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and starring William H. Macy, Isaiah Washington, Sam Rockwell, Michael Jeter (in his last movie, during his lifetime), Luis Guzmán, Pa ...

'', starring

William H. Macy William Hall Macy Jr. (born March 13, 1950) is an American actor. His film career has been built on appearances in small, independent films, though he has also appeared in mainstream films. Some of his best known starring roles include those i ...

Sam Rockwell Sam Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in independent films and also as a character actor portraying a wide variety of roles both comedic and dramatic in films such as '' Lawn Dogs'' (199 ...

, and Clooney.

FX network FX is an American pay television channel owned by FX Networks, LLC, a subsidiary of the Disney General Entertainment Content unit of The Walt Disney Company. It is based at the Fox Studios lot in Century City, California. FX originally launch ...

executive Kevin Reilly hired the Russos to direct the pilot for the series '' Lucky'', having liked the pair's work on ''Collinwood''.

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...

was a fan of the pilot, and he had a hand in hiring the brothers to direct the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

for

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's ''

''. The brothers won a

for their work on the episode, and would go on to direct episodes on the first few seasons of the series. In 2006, the Russo brothers returned to film, directing the

Owen Wilson Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor. He has had a long association with filmmaker Wes Anderson with whom he shared writing and acting credits for '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), and '' The Royal ...

comedy ''

You, Me and Dupree ''You, Me and Dupree'' is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo and written by Mike LeSieur. It stars Owen Wilson, Kate Hudson, Matt Dillon, Seth Rogen, Amanda Detmer, Todd Stashwick, and Michael Douglas. The film ...

.'' The film grossed $130 million worldwide. For the 2007–08 TV season, the Russos joined the crew of the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

series ''

Carpoolers ''Carpoolers'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from October 2, 2007, to March 4, 2008. The show was created by Bruce McCulloch, who also executive produced alongside Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, David Miner, Marsh McCall, Joe ...

'' as executive producers and directors. The brothers served as executive producers and directors on the first several seasons of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

'' and the

series '' Happy Endings''. By June 2012, the Russos were in final talks to direct

Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC (originally known as Marvel Films from 1993 to 1996) is an American film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Walt Disney Company. Marvel Studios produces the Mar ...

' second Captain America movie. The brothers wrapped principal production on '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' in July 2013 and the film was released on April 4, 2014. In January 2014, the brothers signed on to return to direct the third ''Captain America'' film, '' Captain America: Civil War'', which was released on May 6, 2016. In May 2014, they were announced to co-write and direct ''The Gray Man''. In March 2015, the brothers were set to direct an all-male counterpart to

Paul Feig Paul Samuel Feig (; born September 17, 1962) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is known for directing films starring frequent collaborator Melissa McCarthy, including ''Bridesmaids'' (2011), '' The Heat'' (2013), ''Spy'' (2015) ...

's all-female ''Ghostbusters'' reboot, which would be produced by Sony's new-founded production company, Ghost Corps. However, as of March 2016, the Russos were no longer attached to the ''Ghostbusters'' project. In 2015, they signed a deal with Sony. The Russo brothers directed '' Avengers: Infinity War'' (2018), which became the first superhero movie to gross over $2 billion at the box office. They are the third directors to make a $2 billion movie after

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...

's films ''

Avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...

'' and ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

'' and

J. J. Abrams Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as '' Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' F ...

's film '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens''. Its sequel, '' Avengers: Endgame'', was released on April 26, 2019, broke numerous box office records, and became the second superhero movie to gross over $2 billion. They join James Cameron as the only directors to make two $2 billion films. Joe Russo said while promoting ''Avengers: Endgame'', "Both the films ask the question, what is the cost of being a hero? The films are about community and heroes standing up against tyranny. We certainly look at that as waves of nationalism sweep the world." They have also directed the

post-credits scene A post-credits scene (commonly referred to as a stinger or credit cookie) or mid-credits scene is a short clip that appears after all or some of the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or video g ...

of ''Ant-Man'' and the

mid-credits scene A post-credits scene (commonly referred to as a stinger or credit cookie) or mid-credits scene is a short clip that appears after all or some of the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or video g ...

of ''Captain Marvel''. The brothers are financing the Los Angeles and Beijing joint-production company Anthem & Song, which is producing the Chinese superhero film ''The Hero's Awakening''. The Russo brothers produced the television show ''

Deadly Class ''Deadly Class'' is an American action comic book series written by Rick Remender, illustrated by Wes Craig, colored by Jason Wordie, and lettered by Rus Wooton. ''Deadly Class'' is set primarily in the 1980s and follows students enrolled at Kin ...

'', a

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainm ...

-produced adaptation of the comic book series of the same name. The show was aired on the

Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

channel.

Benedict Wong Benedict Wong (born 3 July 1971) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Kublai Khan in Netflix's ''Marco Polo'' (2014–2016), Bruce Ng in '' The Martian'' (2015), and Wong in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since ''Doctor Strange'' (2 ...

, Benjamin Wadsworth, Lana Condor,

Michel Duval Michel Duval (born February 10, 1994, in Mexico City) is a Mexican actor, singer, songwriter, composer and model. known for ''La rosa de Guadalupe'', ''Señora Acero'. Early life Michel Duval was born on February 10, 1994, with the name of Michel ...

and

María Gabriela de Faría María Gabriela de Faría Chacón (born 11 September 1992), is a Venezuelan actress and singer known for appearing in television series across South America. She has starred as Isabela "Isa" Pasquali in Nickelodeon's '' Isa TKM'', as Mia Novoa ...

were among the actors cast in main roles for the series. On April 18, 2018, Syfy picked up the pilot to

the series ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

. On June 4, 2019, the show was canceled. In August 2018, the brothers won the rights to adapt

Nico Walker Nicholas Walker (born April 19, 1985) is an American author and US Army veteran who served time in prison for bank robbery. His semi-autobiographical debut novel, ''Cherry'', was published by Alfred A. Knopf on August 14, 2018. Career From 2005 ...

's 2018 novel ''

Cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

''. They also served as award presenters at

The Game Awards 2018 The Game Awards 2018 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2018. It was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley, creator and producer of The Game Awards, and was held to an invited audience at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angele ...

ceremony, which honored the best

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s of that year. In March 2019, it was confirmed that

Tom Holland Thomas Stanley Holland (born 1 June 1996) is an English actor. His accolades include a British Academy Film Award, three Saturn Awards, a Guinness World Record and an appearance on the ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 Europe list. Some publications h ...

was confirmed to play the lead role in ''

''. On April 10, 2019, it was announced that brothers would helm a new remake of ''

Poltergeist In ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; German for "rumbling ghost" or "noisy spirit") is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descr ...

''. In June 2019, the Russo brothers were announced as the new executive producers for the unnamed

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

animated series based on the ''

Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...

'' trading card game. “We have been huge fans and players of ''Magic: The Gathering'' for as long as it has been around, so being able to help bring these stories to life through animation is a true passion project for us,” the Russos said in a press statement. However, in August 2021, it was announced that the Russos would no longer be involved with the project. The Russos also served as producers of the film ''

Everything Everywhere All At Once ''Everything Everywhere All at Once'' is a 2022 American absurdist comedy-drama film written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as "Daniels"), who produced it with Anthony and Joe Russo. The plot centers on a ...

'', written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. The film, released in theatres in March 2022, is

A24 A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. It is based in New York City. A24 was founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges. Pr ...

's highest-grossing film worldwide at the box office. By July 2020, the Russos were hired to direct an adaptation of Matt Greaney's ''

The Gray Man Grey man, The Gray Man or The Grey Man may refer to: Concepts * Grey man theory, a concept in everyday carry that one should blend in with the environment so as not to raise suspicion People * The primary nickname of American serial killer A ...

'' for

, from a screenplay by Joe Russo, with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely to further polish the script, and actors

Ryan Gosling Ryan Thomas Gosling (born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor. Prominent in independent film, he has also worked in blockbuster films of varying genres, and has accrued a worldwide box office gross of over 1.9 billion USD. He has received ...

and Chris Evans attached to star. The film premiered on

on July 22, 2022. The Russos are developing a spy series called ''

Citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...

'' for

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

, which will star

Priyanka Chopra Priyanka Chopra Jonas (; ; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress and producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, Chopra is one of India's highest-paid actresses and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awar ...

and

Richard Madden Richard Madden (born 18 June 1986) is a Scottish actor. He was cast in his first role at age 11 and made his screen acting debut in 2000. He later began performing on stage whilst a student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In 2007, he ...

. The show will also have local-language versions in Mexico, India, and Italy. In April 2020, it was announced that they would be producing a live-action film adaptation of Disney's ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

''. In December 2020, it was announced that the Russos will direct an adaptation of

Simon Stålenhag Simon Stålenhag (born 20 January 1984) is a Swedish artist, musician, and designer specialising in retro-futuristic digital images focused on nostalgic Swedish countryside alternate history environments. The settings of his artwork have formed ...

's graphic novel ''The Electric State'' for

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

with

Millie Bobby Brown Millie Bobby Brown (born 19 February 2004) is a British actress and producer. She gained recognition for playing Eleven in the Netflix science fiction series ''Stranger Things'' (2016–present), for which she received nominations for two Prime ...

set to star. The duo will also produce an animated film based on the book '' Superfudge'' alongside

Disney Television Animation Disney Television Animation (DTVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a sub-division of the Disney G ...

for

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

. In June 2022, the film adaptation ''

The Electric State ''The Electric State'' is an upcoming American Science fiction film, science fiction Adventure (genre), adventure film directed by Russo brothers, Anthony and Joe Russo and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. It is based on the ...

'' had landed at

Filmography

Film

Television

Other

*''

Fortnite Battle Royale ''Fortnite Battle Royale'' is a free-to-play battle royale video game developed and published by Epic Games. It is a companion game to '' Fortnite: Save the World'', a cooperative survival game with construction elements. It was initially re ...

'' - Season 6, Chapter 2 opening cinematic (co-directed, March 2021).

Joe Russo's acting credits

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Russo brothers Action film directors American film directors American film directors of Italian descent American film editors American male screenwriters American television directors Television producers from Ohio Artists from Cleveland Case Western Reserve University alumni English-language film directors Film producers from Ohio Filmmaking duos Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Primetime Emmy Award winners Screenwriters from Ohio Sibling duos Sibling filmmakers Year of birth missing (living people) American writers of Italian descent