Joe and Anthony Russo will be directing Marvel Studio’s big two-part superhero extravaganza The Avengers: Infinity War. The pair will be stepping into the shoes of Joss Whedon who directed the first two Avengers films for the studio. Previously, the Brothers had directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, one of the studio’s bigger hits, and are set to start shooting the follow up to that movie, Captain America: Civil War, next month.
The hiring of the Russo Brothers for the film doesn’t come as too much of a surprise. Fan favorite director Whedon had directed the first Avengers film and did so well that in addition to landing the gig for directing the sequel, Age Of Ultron due out on May 1, he pitched in to help creatively steer all of Marvel Studio’s Phase Two films. But in recent interviews, Whedon had stated that he was itching to get back to working on his own projects again. In the nearly five years he had been working with Marvel, the only non-superhero thing he has done was his Shakespeare adaptation Much Ado About Nothing, which he shot relatively quickly on a small budget.
The one thing that this does place in doubt is the status of the Brothers’ recently signed first look deal with Sony. The deal was announced earlier this month, so supposedly the studio was aware that the Infinity War job was in the work. The Russos have a May 6, 2016 release date set for Civil War, with the two parts of Infinity War set for May 2018 and May 2019. Reportedly, the plan is to shoot both parts concurrently in 2016. The Brothers are also supposed to be filming Sony’s planned male-driven Ghostbusters film in 2016, so it looks as if their schedule is going to be pretty tight for the next couple of years.
Via Hollywood Reporter.
