Russo Brothers to Direct 'Avengers: Infinity War' Parts 1 and 2
Joe and Anthony Russo at the ‘Winter Soldier’ premiere last year
By Borys Kit, Austin Siegemund-Broka
Joe and Anthony Russo, who directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier and will return for Captain America: Civil War, are cementing themselves as Marvel’s main movie executors.
The brothers will direct both parts of the studio’s Avengers: Infinity War, taking over the billion-dollar franchise from Joss Whedon, who directed the first two Avengers films. (The second one, Avengers: Age of Ultron, opens May 1.) They’ll film Infinity War in one long shoot beginning sometime in 2016, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.
No writers are attached, but the brothers will likely reunite with Winter Soldier’s Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. They collaborated on Civil War, which the Russos will begin shooting next month.
Related: Marvel’s ‘Secret Wars’: What Newcomers Need to Know
One question the new deal raises is the status of the Russos’ deal with Sony. The duo signed a three-year first-look deal with the Culver City-based studio in March. Working on anAvengers movie is an all-consuming endeavor so how active they will be within that deal remains to be seen.
Civil War, for which the brothers are in pre-production and is being seen as a mini-Avengers movie due to the large cast of heroes, has a May 6, 2016 release date. Infinity War — Part 1 and Infinity War — Part 2 are slated to be released May 4, 2018 and May 3, 2019.
Regardless of the Sony deal, the Infinity get is a massive feather in the duo’s cap and shows an incredible career trajectory. The Russos began in television comedy, directing episodes of Arrested Development in the early to mid-2000s, and still worked in the field in 2012 with Happy Endings and Up All Night. It was their work on some of the geeky episodes of Community, however, that led to Winter Soldier. That movie grossed $717.7 million worldwide.
Badass Digest first reported that the deal was closing.
The Russos are repped by WME and Jackoway Tyerman.
Photo credit: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images
