Russo brothers

Anthony Russo (born February 3, 1970) and Joseph Russo (born July 18, 1971), collectively known as the Russo Brothers, are American film and television directors. The brothers direct most of their work together, and occasionally work as producers, screenwriters, actors, and editors.

The Russo brothers are best known for directing four installments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America: The Winter Soldier  (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Among these, Endgame grossed over $2.796 billion worldwide, thus becoming the highest-grossing film of all time.

Apart from their MCU work, the brothers are also known for their work on the comedy series Arrested Development, for which they won an Emmy Award, and Community.

Life and career
Anthony and Joe Russo were raised in the Italian neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, and attended the Benedictine High School. Their parents are Patricia and Basil Russo, an attorney and former judge of Italian descent. Joe graduated from the University of Iowa and majored in English and writing, while Anthony graduated from the University of Pennsylvania where he majored in business before switching to English. The Russos were graduate students at Case Western Reserve University (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, Steven Soderbergh approached the duo and offered to produce their next film, along with his producing partner George Clooney. This project was the crime comedy Welcome to Collinwood, starring William H. Macy, Sam Rockwell, and Clooney.

FX network executive Kevin Reilly hired the Russos to direct the pilot for the series Lucky, having liked the pair's work on Collinwood. Ron Howard was a fan of the pilot, and he had a hand in hiring the brothers to direct the pilot for Fox's Arrested Development. The brothers won an Emmy for their work on the episode.

In 2006, the Russo brothers returned to film, directing the Owen Wilson comedy You, Me and Dupree. The film grossed $130 million worldwide. For the 2007–08 TV season, the Russos joined the crew of the ABC series Carpoolers as executive producers and directors. The brothers served as executive producers and directors on the first several seasons of the NBC sitcom Community and the ABC series Happy Endings.

In July 2013, the brothers wrapped principal production on Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a superhero sequel for Marvel Studios; 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 installment in the rebooted series of the Ghostbusters franchise, produced by Sony's new-founded production company, Ghost Corps. However, as of March 2016, the Russos are no longer attached to the Ghostbusters project.

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's films Avatar and Titanic and J.J. Abrams'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 $2B films. Joe Russo said while promoting Avengers: Endgame in Mumbai, India, “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 of Ant-Man and the mid-credits scene of Captain Marvel.

The brothers are financing the Los Angeles and Beijing joint-production company Anthem & Song, which is producing the Chinese superhero movie The Hero’s Awakening.

The Russo brothers produced the television show Deadly Class, a Sony Pictures Television-produced adaptation of the comic book series of the same name. The show was aired on the Syfy channel. Benedict Wong, Benjamin Wadsworth, Lana Condor, Michel Duval and María Gabriela de Faría were among the actors cast in main roles for the series. On April 18, 2018, Syfy picked up the pilot to the series. On June 4, 2019, the show was canceled.

In August 2018, the brothers won the rights to adapt Nico Walker's 2018 novel Cherry. They also served as award presenters at The Game Awards 2018 ceremony, which honored the best video games of that year. In March 2019, it was confirmed that Tom Holland was confirmed to play the lead role in Cherry. On April 10, 2019, it was announced that brothers would helm a new remake of Poltergeist.

In Summer 2019, The Russo Brothers were announced as the new executive producers for the unnamed Netflix Animated Series based on the Trading Card Game Magic: The Gathering. “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.