Anthony J. Russo was born on the 3rd of February 1970 and Joseph Vincent Russo followed on the 18th of July 1971, two sons of Patricia Gallupoli and Basil Russo in Cleveland, Ohio. Their parents were of Italian descent, with families emigrating from Sicily and Abruzzo respectively, and they raised four children who all attended Benedictine High School. While their brother and sister Gabriella and Angela attended the same school, the two boys took different academic paths after graduation. Joe enrolled at the University of Iowa where he majored in English and writing, eventually graduating in 1992. His interest in acting sparked after a professor encouraged him to write and perform a monologue for his class. Anthony attended the University of Pennsylvania, also majoring in English, setting the stage for a partnership that would eventually dominate global cinema.
Credit Card Cinema
The first feature film written, directed, and produced by the Russo brothers was Pieces, a project they self-financed through student loans and credit cards. In an interview with Deadline, Anthony Russo explained that the inspiration came from watching Robert Rodriguez make El Mariachi, which motivated them to create their own credit card film. Pieces debuted at the Slamdance Film Festival and caught the attention of director Steven Soderbergh, who described the film as insanely ambitious and dense. Soderbergh reached out to the brothers over a lunch meeting and offered to produce their next feature, Welcome to Collinwood, a caper comedy starring William H. Macy, Isaiah Washington, and Sam Rockwell. The film was part of the Directors' Fortnight lineup for the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, where it closed the fest as one of the few U.S. entries.Television Breakthrough
After their sophomore film, FX Networks executive Kevin Reilly hired the brothers to direct the pilot for the series Lucky, having liked their work on Welcome to Collinwood. They were also hand-picked by director and producer Ron Howard to direct the pilot for Fox's Arrested Development. The Russos suggested and fought to cast Jason Bateman for the lead role of Michael Bluth, despite studio skepticism toward Bateman. In 2004, Anthony and Joe Russo won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the pilot episode of Arrested Development. Their success continued with Community, where producer Dan Harmon praised their ability to spot talent and cast based on character regardless of status in the industry. The brothers directed 34 episodes of Community, including A Fistful of Paintballs and For a Few Paintballs More, which served as the season two finale and received critical acclaim. Alan Sepinwall of Uproxx described the Russo brothers' installment as nothing short of The Godfather Part II of sitcom episodes.The Winter Soldier Strategy
Their success with Arrested Development and Community put the Russo brothers on the radar of Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, who brought them into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2014, the brothers directed their first film for Marvel Studios, the action espionage thriller Captain America: The Winter Soldier starring Chris Evans as Captain America. The brothers were in the running against nine other directors to helm the film, which was the sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger directed by Joe Johnston. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Joe Russo explained that they were given the script and fell in love with the movie, creating storyboards, rewriting scenes, and presenting an animatic to Marvel to get the job. The brothers noted The French Connection, Black Friday, Three Days of the Condor and All the President's Men as their influences in tone and style. The movie was a box office success and received critical acclaim, with Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly praising its tackling of serious subject matter and comparing it favorably to The Dark Knight. The film was a financial success earning $714 million worldwide.Infinity War and Endgame
The Russo brothers returned to the MCU with Captain America: Civil War in 2016, the success of which got them hired on their highest profile projects to date: Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 and Avengers: Endgame in 2019. Infinity War would become the first superhero movie to gross over $2 billion at the box office. Endgame was the second superhero movie to surpass that same target, earning $2.799 billion in global box office. After breaking numerous box office records, the Russo brothers joined James Cameron as the only directors to make two films that each earned over $2 billion. Their film Endgame grossed over $2.798 billion worldwide, briefly becoming the highest-grossing film of all time. The pair are the third-highest-grossing directors of all time, a testament to their ability to handle massive scale storytelling while maintaining character intimacy.AGBO and Creative Pivot
In 2017, the Russo brothers founded their production company, AGBO with producing partner Mike Larocca. The following year, the brothers' longtime Marvel film collaborators Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely joined AGBO as Co-Presidents of Story. The brothers made it a part of AGBO's mission to support emerging talent and foster their creativity, saying they wanted to pay forward the kind of mentorship that Steven Soderbergh had given them. Feature directorial debuts supported by AGBO and produced by the Russo brothers include Mosul by writer Matthew Michael Carnahan and Relic by director Natalie Erika James. Another first-time filmmaker supported by the Russo brothers via AGBO was their long-time collaborator, Sam Hargrave, who directed Extraction in 2020, starring Chris Hemsworth. Joe Russo adapted the film from Ciudad, a graphic novel he wrote with his brother and Ande Parks. Extraction went on to be the most-watched original film in Netflix's history.Drama and Blockbuster Return
After the release of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the Russo brothers made a creative pivot to drama, directing the Apple TV+ film Cherry in 2021, which was co-written by their sister, Angela Russo-Otstot. The film explores the opioid epidemic through the lens of a war veteran with PTSD played by Tom Holland. Anthony Russo said the film was personal for the brothers, as they have family members who have suffered and died from opioid addiction. The Russo brothers then turned their focus back to blockbuster action by directing the Netflix's The Gray Man in 2022 starring Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas. Both Cherry and The Gray Man received negative reviews from critics. The brothers produced the film Everything Everywhere All At Once in 2022, written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, which became A24's highest-grossing film worldwide at the box office and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.Future Projects and Legacy
At San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024, Marvel Studios announced that the Russo brothers would return to direct Avengers: Doomsday in 2026 and Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027, and that AGBO would be co-producing the films. Filming began in late 2024. The brothers reunited with Netflix in March 2025 for the science-fiction action film The Electric State starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt and based upon Simon Stålenhag's original graphic novel. The film received extremely negative reviews from critics, earning a 14% score on Rotten Tomatoes, yet debuted on Netflix as #1 in the platform's Top 10 upon its week of release. On the 1st of March 2024, it was announced that the Russo brothers would produce the swashbuckler action film The Bluff, directed by Frank E. Flowers and starring Priyanka Chopra, for Amazon MGM Studios. On the 5th of February 2025, it was reported that the brothers would produce the upcoming crime thriller The Whisper Man, directed by James Ashcroft, starring Robert De Niro, and based on the novel of the same name, for Netflix. On the 21st of February 2025, the Russo brothers were honored with the handprint and footprint ceremony in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.Anthony J. Russo was born on the 3rd of February 1970 and Joseph Vincent Russo followed on the 18th of July 1971, two sons of Patricia Gallupoli and Basil Russo in Cleveland, Ohio. Their parents were of Italian descent, with families emigrating from Sicily and Abruzzo respectively, and they raised four children who all attended Benedictine High School. While their brother and sister Gabriella and Angela attended the same school, the two boys took different academic paths after graduation. Joe enrolled at the University of Iowa where he majored in English and writing, eventually graduating in 1992. His interest in acting sparked after a professor encouraged him to write and perform a monologue for his class. Anthony attended the University of Pennsylvania, also majoring in English, setting the stage for a partnership that would eventually dominate global cinema.
Credit Card Cinema
The first feature film written, directed, and produced by the Russo brothers was Pieces, a project they self-financed through student loans and credit cards. In an interview with Deadline, Anthony Russo explained that the inspiration came from watching Robert Rodriguez make El Mariachi, which motivated them to create their own credit card film. Pieces debuted at the Slamdance Film Festival and caught the attention of director Steven Soderbergh, who described the film as insanely ambitious and dense. Soderbergh reached out to the brothers over a lunch meeting and offered to produce their next feature, Welcome to Collinwood, a caper comedy starring William H. Macy, Isaiah Washington, and Sam Rockwell. The film was part of the Directors' Fortnight lineup for the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, where it closed the fest as one of the few U.S. entries.
Television Breakthrough
After their sophomore film, FX Networks executive Kevin Reilly hired the brothers to direct the pilot for the series Lucky, having liked their work on Welcome to Collinwood. They were also hand-picked by director and producer Ron Howard to direct the pilot for Fox's Arrested Development. The Russos suggested and fought to cast Jason Bateman for the lead role of Michael Bluth, despite studio skepticism toward Bateman. In 2004, Anthony and Joe Russo won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the pilot episode of Arrested Development. Their success continued with Community, where producer Dan Harmon praised their ability to spot talent and cast based on character regardless of status in the industry. The brothers directed 34 episodes of Community, including A Fistful of Paintballs and For a Few Paintballs More, which served as the season two finale and received critical acclaim. Alan Sepinwall of Uproxx described the Russo brothers' installment as nothing short of The Godfather Part II of sitcom episodes.
The Winter Soldier Strategy
Their success with Arrested Development and Community put the Russo brothers on the radar of Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, who brought them into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2014, the brothers directed their first film for Marvel Studios, the action espionage thriller Captain America: The Winter Soldier starring Chris Evans as Captain America. The brothers were in the running against nine other directors to helm the film, which was the sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger directed by Joe Johnston. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Joe Russo explained that they were given the script and fell in love with the movie, creating storyboards, rewriting scenes, and presenting an animatic to Marvel to get the job. The brothers noted The French Connection, Black Friday, Three Days of the Condor and All the President's Men as their influences in tone and style. The movie was a box office success and received critical acclaim, with Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly praising its tackling of serious subject matter and comparing it favorably to The Dark Knight. The film was a financial success earning $714 million worldwide.
Infinity War and Endgame
The Russo brothers returned to the MCU with Captain America: Civil War in 2016, the success of which got them hired on their highest profile projects to date: Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 and Avengers: Endgame in 2019. Infinity War would become the first superhero movie to gross over $2 billion at the box office. Endgame was the second superhero movie to surpass that same target, earning $2.799 billion in global box office. After breaking numerous box office records, the Russo brothers joined James Cameron as the only directors to make two films that each earned over $2 billion. Their film Endgame grossed over $2.798 billion worldwide, briefly becoming the highest-grossing film of all time. The pair are the third-highest-grossing directors of all time, a testament to their ability to handle massive scale storytelling while maintaining character intimacy.
AGBO and Creative Pivot
In 2017, the Russo brothers founded their production company, AGBO with producing partner Mike Larocca. The following year, the brothers' longtime Marvel film collaborators Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely joined AGBO as Co-Presidents of Story. The brothers made it a part of AGBO's mission to support emerging talent and foster their creativity, saying they wanted to pay forward the kind of mentorship that Steven Soderbergh had given them. Feature directorial debuts supported by AGBO and produced by the Russo brothers include Mosul by writer Matthew Michael Carnahan and Relic by director Natalie Erika James. Another first-time filmmaker supported by the Russo brothers via AGBO was their long-time collaborator, Sam Hargrave, who directed Extraction in 2020, starring Chris Hemsworth. Joe Russo adapted the film from Ciudad, a graphic novel he wrote with his brother and Ande Parks. Extraction went on to be the most-watched original film in Netflix's history.
Drama and Blockbuster Return
After the release of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the Russo brothers made a creative pivot to drama, directing the Apple TV+ film Cherry in 2021, which was co-written by their sister, Angela Russo-Otstot. The film explores the opioid epidemic through the lens of a war veteran with PTSD played by Tom Holland. Anthony Russo said the film was personal for the brothers, as they have family members who have suffered and died from opioid addiction. The Russo brothers then turned their focus back to blockbuster action by directing the Netflix's The Gray Man in 2022 starring Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas. Both Cherry and The Gray Man received negative reviews from critics. The brothers produced the film Everything Everywhere All At Once in 2022, written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, which became A24's highest-grossing film worldwide at the box office and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Future Projects and Legacy
At San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024, Marvel Studios announced that the Russo brothers would return to direct Avengers: Doomsday in 2026 and Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027, and that AGBO would be co-producing the films. Filming began in late 2024. The brothers reunited with Netflix in March 2025 for the science-fiction action film The Electric State starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt and based upon Simon Stålenhag's original graphic novel. The film received extremely negative reviews from critics, earning a 14% score on Rotten Tomatoes, yet debuted on Netflix as #1 in the platform's Top 10 upon its week of release. On the 1st of March 2024, it was announced that the Russo brothers would produce the swashbuckler action film The Bluff, directed by Frank E. Flowers and starring Priyanka Chopra, for Amazon MGM Studios. On the 5th of February 2025, it was reported that the brothers would produce the upcoming crime thriller The Whisper Man, directed by James Ashcroft, starring Robert De Niro, and based on the novel of the same name, for Netflix. On the 21st of February 2025, the Russo brothers were honored with the handprint and footprint ceremony in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.