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Russo brothers
American film and television director duo From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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, and their work has grossed more than 6.8 billion worldwide, making them the third-highest-grossing directors of all time. 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.
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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.
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Early life and education
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Anthony Russo (born February 3, 1970)[1][2] and Joseph Russo (born July 18, 1971)[2][3] were born to Patricia Gallupoli and attorney and judge Basil Russo in Cleveland, Ohio.[4] Both of their parents are of Italian descent,[5] with families emigrating from Sicily and Abruzzo, respectively.[4] After settling in Ohio, they raised Anthony, Joe, Gabriella, and Angela Russo, all of whom attended Benedictine High School.[6]
The brothers grew up regularly going to the Cleveland Cinematheque watching movies.[7]
After high school, Joe attended the University of Iowa, where he majored in English and writing and graduated in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in English.[8][9] He also had a short two-term stint studying abroad at the University of East Anglia in 1991 and became interested in acting after his professor encouraged him to write and perform a monologue for his class.[10]
Anthony attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in business before switching his major to English.[11]
After their time in England, Anthony and Joe enrolled in graduate programs at Case Western Reserve University, where Anthony pursued law, and Joe joined the university's acting program.
After Joe received his graduate degree in Theatre in 1995[12], he attended the UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television, and Anthony attended Columbia University's film program. The brothers attended these two different schools to establish contacts on both east and west coasts and use the editing equipment to complete their first foray into filmmaking - their debut feature film, Pieces.[13]
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Career
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Indie filmmaking
The Russo brothers wrote, directed, produced, and completely self-financed their first feature film, Pieces, with student loans and their credit cards. The film was greatly influenced by the French New Wave, and their motivation to complete it was inspired by Robert Rodriguez after reading his book detailing how he made a movie for $7,000. In an interview with Deadline, Anthony Russo said, "We were both in Cleveland and Robert Rodriguez had just made El Mariachi, and that inspired us. We were film buffs growing up, and his experience inspired us to make our own credit card film."[14]
Pieces debuted at the Slamdance Film Festival and caught the attention of director Steven Soderbergh. An influential figure in independent cinema himself, Soderbergh was impressed by what the Russo brothers were able to achieve narratively on a limited budget. In an interview with the filmmakers at the Sands Film Festival in 2025, Soderbergh described the film, saying, "It was insanely ambitious and dense... I was just very activated by how activated they were and it was clear they were grinders."[15]
After seeing their film at Slamdance, Soderbergh reached out to the Russo brothers and, over a lunch meeting, offered to produce their next feature. The Russo brothers then dove into a two-year cycle writing three scripts, one being Welcome to Collinwood, which Soderbergh produced through Section Eight, the production company he founded with actor George Clooney.[15] The film, a crime comedy starring William H. Macy, Sam Rockwell, and Clooney, was shot in Cleveland, Ohio, the Russo brothers' hometown.[16]
The Russo brothers were part of the Directors' Fortnight lineup for the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.[17] Joe and Anthony Russo's first feature, Welcome to Collinwood, was one of the few U.S. entries, and closed the fest.[18]
Television breakthrough
After their sophomore film, the Russo brothers landed on the radar of FX Networks executive Kevin Reilly, who then hired them to direct the pilot for the series Lucky, having liked the pair's work on Collinwood. Following their work on Lucky, director and producer Ron Howard hand-picked the brothers to direct the pilot for Fox's Arrested Development.[19] In an interview with /Film, producer Dan Harmon praised the Russos' ability to spot talent and cast based on character regardless of status in the industry.[20] This philosophy paid off when the brothers fought to cast Jason Bateman as the show's lead despite widespread skepticism at the time.[21]
Harmon also credited the Russo brothers with the idea to cast Donald Glover on the NBC sitcom Community, calling the brothers "geniuses in casting."[20] The brothers directed 34 episodes of Community and were praised for playing an integral role in the series' success with their strong casting choices and implementation of cinematic storytelling into the format. Their creative voice was most evident in their episodes "A Fistful of Paintballs" and "For a Few Paintballs More," which served as the season two finale and received critical acclaim and notoriety. Alan Sepinwall of Uproxx described the Russo brothers' installment as "nothing short of The Godfather Part II of sitcom episodes".[22]
These episodes put the Russo brothers on the radar of Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, who subsequently brought them into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where they would eventually set the tone and build the narrative trajectory in the years that followed.[23][24]
2014–2019: Marvel Cinematic Universe
In 2014, the Russo brothers directed their first film within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the action mystery thriller film Captain America: The Winter Soldier starring Chris Evans as Captain America. This serves as the sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) directed by Joe Johnston. The Winter Soldier received critical acclaim, with Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly praising its tackling of serious subject matter, comparing it favorably to The Dark Knight (2008).[25] The film was a financial success earning $714 million worldwide.[26] They directed the third film in the Captain America trilogy entitled Captain America: Civil War (2016) which also was a success both critically and commercially.[27][28]
In 2017, the brothers founded the production company AGBO.[29] 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.[30] They join James Cameron as the only directors to make two $2 billion films.[31]
2020–2024: AGBO
The Russos also served as producers of the film Everything Everywhere All At Once, written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.[32] The film, released in theatres in March 2022, is A24's highest-grossing film worldwide at the box office.[33] 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.[34][35]
Since leaving the MCU, the Russo brothers directed a string of films for streaming outlets such as the Apple TV+ crime drama Cherry (2021) starring Tom Holland and the Netflix action thriller The Gray Man starring Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas. Both films received negative reviews. The duo reunited with Netflix for the science-fiction action film The Electric State (2025) starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt. To date, it is the worst-reviewed film of their career, receiving a 15% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Lindsey Bahr of The Associated Press wrote, "It’s lacking a spark and a soul that might distinguish it as memorable or special. Worse, considering everything it has going for it, The Electric State is kind of dull."[36] In a review for the film, New York Post's Johnny Oleksinski noted the Russo brothers' directing efforts after Avengers: Endgame as "some of the worst and priciest movies of the past six years"; he panned the film's lack of originality.[37]
2025–present: Return to the MCU
At San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024, Marvel Studios announced that the Russo brothers would return to direct and produce Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027).[38]
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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.[39] Joe was joined on the board of directors by former Cleveland Cavaliers CEO Len Komoroski and real estate figure Terry Ahern.[40]
Filmography
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Film
Executive producers only
- Crashing (2007)
- Super Me (2009)
- A Merry Friggin' Christmas (2014)
- Dizzy Pursuit (2018)
- Relic (2020)
- All Fun and Games (2023)
Other
- Captain Marvel (2019) (Uncredited directors; mid-credits scene only)
- Thunderbolts* (2025) (Uncredited directors; post-credits scene only)
Television
Other
- Fortnite Battle Royale - Chapter 2, Season 6 opening cinematic (co-directed, March 2021).[41]
Joe Russo acting credits
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See also
Notes
References
External links
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