Russo brothers

Anthony Russo (born February 3, 1970) and Joseph Russo (born July 18, 1971), collectively known as the Russo brothers (/ˈruːsoʊ/ ROO-soh), are American filmmakers. They direct most of their work together. They are best known for directing four films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (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, briefly becoming the highest-grossing film of all time.

Russo brothers
Joe (left) and Anthony Russo in 2019
Born	Anthony Russo (1970-02-03) February 3, 1970 (age 55) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. Joseph Russo (1971-07-18) July 18, 1971 (age 53) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Occupations	Film directors film producers screenwriters actors
Years active	1997–present
Father	Basil Russo

The brothers have also worked as directors and producers on the comedy series Arrested Development (2003–2005), Community (2009–2014), and Happy Endings (2011–2012). They won a Primetime Emmy Award for Arrested Development.

Early life

Anthony Russo (born February 3, 1970)^[1][2] and Joseph Russo (born July 18, 1971)^[2][3] were born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, the sons of Patricia Gallupoli and attorney and judge Basil Russo.^[4] Their parents are both of Italian descent.^[5] Their paternal and maternal families emigrated from Sicily and Abruzzo, respectively, and settled in Ohio.^[4] They attended Benedictine High School.^[6] Joe graduated from the University of Iowa and majored in English and writing, while Anthony graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and majored in business before switching to English.^[7][8][9]

Career

The Russo brothers were graduate students at Case Western Reserve University (where Anthony studied law and Joe studied acting at UEA) when they began directing, writing, and producing their first feature, Pieces. They financed the film with student loans and credit cards.^[10] 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.^[10] This project was the crime comedy Welcome to Collinwood, starring William H. Macy, Sam Rockwell, and Clooney.^[11]

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.^[10]

In 2017, the brothers founded the production company AGBO.^[12]

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.^[13] They join James Cameron as the only directors to make two $2 billion films.^[14]

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.^[15][16]

The Russos also served as producers of the film Everything Everywhere All At Once, written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.^[17] The film, released in theatres in March 2022, is A24's highest-grossing film worldwide at the box office.^[18]

At San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024, Marvel Studios announced that the Russo brothers would return to direct and also produce Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027).^[19]

Business interests

In January 2025, Joe Russo was announced as a board member and investor of English football club Sheffield United. The club was taken over by the consortium group COH Sports led by fellow American businessmen Steve Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy.^[20] Joe was joined on the board of directors by former Cleveland Cavaliers CEO Len Komoroski and real estate figure Terry Ahern.^[21]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Directors	Producers	Writer(s)
1997	Pieces[a]	Yes	Yes	Yes
2002	Welcome to Collinwood	Yes	No	Yes
2006	You, Me and Dupree	Yes	No	No
2007	Crashing	No	Executives	No
2014	Captain America: The Winter Soldier	Yes	No	No
	A Merry Friggin' Christmas	No	Executives	No
2016	Captain America: Civil War	Yes	No	No
2018	Avengers: Infinity War	Yes	No	No
	Dizzy Pursuit	No	Executives	No
2019	Avengers: Endgame	Yes	No	No
	21 Bridges	No	Yes	No
	Mosul	No	Yes	No
	Super Me	No	Executives	No
2020	Extraction	No	Yes	Joe
	Relic	No	Executives	No
2021	Cherry	Yes	Yes	No
2022	The Gray Man	Yes	Yes	Joe
	Everything Everywhere All at Once	No	Yes	No
2023	Extraction 2	No	Yes	Joe
	All Fun and Games	No	Executives	No
2025	The Electric State	Yes	Yes	No
TBA	The Bluff	No	Yes	No

Television

Year	Title	Director(s)	Executive producers	Episode(s)
2003	Lucky	Yes	No	"Pilot", "Up the Streaks"
2003–2005	Arrested Development	Yes	No	Episodes Both: "Pilot" Anthony only: "Top Banana", "Key Decisions", "The Immaculate Election", "Spring Breakout" Joe only: "Bringing Up Buster", "In God We Trust", "Pier Pressure", "Marta Complex", "Shock and Aww", "Missing Kitty", "Hand to God", "Motherboy XXX", "Meat the Veals"
2004–2005	LAX	Yes	Yes	Episodes Both: "Pilot" Anthony only: "The Longest Day", "The Pictures to Prove It", "Mixed Signals" Joe only: "Finnegan Again, Begin Again", "Thanksgiving", "Senator's Daughter" 7 episodes
2006	What About Brian	Yes	No	"Pilot"
2007–2008	Carpoolers	Yes	Yes	Episodes Both: "Pilot" Anthony only: "The Code", "The Recital" Joe only: "Laird of the Rings", "What Would You Do?", "Down for the Count", "The Seminar", "A Divorce to Remember", "The Handsomest Man", "Lost in America" All episodes
2009	Comedy Showcase	Yes	No	"The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret"
2009–2014	Community	Yes	Yes	Episodes Both: "Pilot" Anthony only: "Introduction to Film", "Social Psychology", "Home Economics", "The Politics of Human Sexuality", "Physical Education", "Beginner Pottery", "The Psychology of Letting Go", "Basic Rocket Science", "Asian Population Studies", "Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy", "Biology 101", "Competitive Ecology", "Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism" Joe only: "Spanish 101", "Advanced Criminal Law", "Football, Feminism and You", "Debate 109", "Investigative Journalism", "Romantic Expressionism", "Pascal's Triangle Revisited", "Anthropology 101", "Accounting for Lawyers", "Cooperative Calligraphy", "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons", "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking", "Competitive Wine Tasting", "A Fistful of Paintballs", "For a Few Paintballs More", "Geography of Global Conflict", "Advanced Gay", "Documentary Filmmaking: Redux", "Geothermal Escapism", "Advanced Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" 34 episodes
2010	Running Wilde	Yes	Yes	"Pilot"
	The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret	Yes	No	Original Comedy Showcase Pilot
2011–2012	Happy Endings	Yes	Yes	Episodes Both: "Pilot" Anthony only: "Barefoot Pedaler", "Blax, Snake, Home", "Secrets and Limos" Joe only: "Bo Fight", "Yesandwitch", "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre" 7 episodes
	Up All Night	Yes	No	Episodes Joe only: "Cool Neighbors", "Working Late and Working It", "Day After Valentine's Day"
2012	Animal Practice	Yes	Yes	Episodes Both: "Pilot" Anthony only: "Clean-Smelling Pirate" Joe only: "Ralphie" 3 episodes
2015	Agent Carter	Joe	No	Episode: "Bridge and Tunnel" (as Joseph V. Russo)
2019	Deadly Class	No	Yes	10 episodes
	Larry Charles' Dangerous World of Comedy	No	Yes	4 episodes
2022–present	From	No	Yes	20 episodes
2023–present	Citadel	Yes	Yes	Director of Season 2: Joe only

Other

• Fortnite Battle Royale - Season 6, Chapter 2 opening cinematic (co-directed, March 2021).^[22]

Joe Russo's acting credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Arrested Development	Joe	Episode "Hand to God"
2006	You, Me and Dupree	Personal Trainer
2014	Captain America: The Winter Soldier	Dr. Fine
2016	Captain America: Civil War	Dr. Theo Broussard
2018	Avengers: Infinity War	Bert	Deleted scene
2019	Avengers: Endgame	Grieving Man	Credited as Gozie Agbo
		Thanos[23]	Additional motion-capture only; uncredited
2020	The Simpsons	Movie Executive (Voice)	Episode "Bart the Bad Guy"
2021	Cherry	Restaurant Owner
2022	The Gray Man	CIA DDO Fine	uncredited

See also

• List of highest-grossing film directors

Notes

1. Unreleased theatrically in the United States.

References

1. "Anthony Russo Biography". Tribute. Archived from the original on December 15, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
2. Lovece, Frank (March 25, 2014). "Soldier showdown: Joe and Anthony Russo take the helm of 'Captain America' franchise". Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. I was born in February of 1970 and Joe was born in the hood of Brooklyn, New York. I am the top shot.
3. Russo Brothers verified account [@Russo_Brothers] (July 18, 2019). "Happy Birthday Joe" (Tweet). Archived from the original on August 5, 2019 – via Twitter. "Despite what Wiki says, it's actually today."
4. "Italians in Hollywood". Italian American Museum of Los Angeles. Archived from the original on July 18, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020 – via Google Arts & Culture. The Russo and Gallupoli families ... emigrated from the humble villages of Longi and Caccamo, Sicily, and Spoltore, Abruzzo
5. O'Connor, Clint (January 12, 2019). "'Captain America: The Winter Soldier': Directors Anthony and Joe Russo on landing in the Marvel universe and their love of '70s crime thrillers". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland, Ohio. Archived from the original on July 18, 2020.
6. Luttermoser, John (August 29, 2009). "Anthony and Joe Russo put 'Community' on edge for NBC comedy series". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland, Ohio. Archived from the original on July 18, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
7. "Iowa Alumni Magazine: Captain Middle America". University of Iowa Alumni. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
8. Crowder, Courtney (May 9, 2016). "Iowa has close ties to 'Captain America' series". Des Moines Register. Iowa, U.S. Archived from the original on July 18, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
9. Cohen, Rich (April 22, 2019). "The Russo Brothers Have Post-'Avengers' Grand Plans". Esquire. Archived from the original on April 28, 2019. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
10. "Anthony and Joe Russo: Executive Producers/Directors". Community. Official site at NBC. Archived from the original on September 22, 2009.
11. Cassady, Charles Jr. (September 28, 2002). "Russo brothers put Cleveland in spotlight". The Morning Journal. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
12. Fleming, Mike Jr (May 5, 2020). "Russo Brothers Tap Chernin Group Vet Jason Bergsman As New AGBO CEO". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
13. Kit, Borys; Siegemund-Broka, Austin (March 23, 2015). "Russo Brothers to Direct 'Avengers: Infinity War' Parts 1 and 2". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 23, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
14. Raman, Sruthi Ganapathy. "What to expect as the countdown to 'Avengers: Endgame' begins: 'The cost of being a hero'". Scroll. India.
15. Brzeski, Patrick (March 13, 2016). "Russo Brothers Launch Studio to Produce Chinese-Language Films (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
16. Frater, Patrick (May 10, 2016). "'Captain America' Filmmakers Announce Chinese Superhero Project". Variety.
17. Galuppo, Mia (August 30, 2018). "Michelle Yeoh, Awkwafina in Talks for Film From 'Swiss Army Man' Directors". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
18. D'Alessandro, Anthony (June 10, 2022). "'Everything Everywhere All At Once' Becomes A24's Highest Grossing Movie Of All-Time At Global Box Office". Deadline. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
19. Vary, Adam B.; Woerner, Meredith (July 28, 2024). "Marvel Announces 'Avengers: Doomsday' and 'Avengers: Secret Wars' Directed by the Russo Brothers". Variety. Archived from the original on July 29, 2024. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
20. "COH Sports completes Blades acquisition". sufc.co.uk. December 23, 2024. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
21. "COH Sports announces three new board members and investors". sufc.co.uk. January 20, 2025. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
22. Webster, Andrew (March 17, 2021). "Fortnite's season 6 opening cinematic was co-directed by the Russo brothers". The Verge. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
23. "Avengers: Endgame Director Played Thanos in Karen Gillan's Nebula Scenes". Marvel. November 8, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2023.

External links

• Media related to Russo brothers at Wikimedia Commons
• Anthony Russo at IMDb
• Joe Russo at IMDb