Russo brothers

 ( American Action Film Directors ) 

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. He became interested in acting after a professor encouraged him to write and perform a monologue for his class. Anthony attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he also majored to English.

Pieces debuted at the Slamdance Film Festival and caught the attention of director Steven Soderbergh, who described the film as "insanely ambitious and dense... I was just very activated by how activated they were and it was clear they were grinders." Soderbergh reached out to the Russo brothers and, over a lunch meeting, offered to produce their next feature, Welcome to Collinwood, a caper comedy starring William H. Macy, Isaiah Washington, and Sam Rockwell. The Russo brothers were part of the Directors' Fortnight lineup for the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, where Welcome to Collinwood was one of the few U.S. entries and closed the fest.

In an interview with /Film, producer Dan Harmon, who hired the Russos to direct the pilot of his TV series Community, praised the Russos' ability to spot talent and cast based on character regardless of status in the industry. He credits the Russo brothers with the idea to cast Donald Glover on the NBC sitcom, calling the brothers "geniuses in casting." 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".

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Joe Russo explained that they were given the script and "fell in love" with the movie, creating , 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 (2008). The film was a financial success earning $714 million worldwide.

The Russo brothers returned to the MCU with (2016), the success of which got them hired on their highest profile projects to date: (2018) and (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 , the Russo brothers joined James Cameron as the only directors to make two films that each earned over $2 billion.

Another first-time filmmaker supported by the Russo brothers via AGBO was their long-time collaborator, Sam Hargrave, who directed Extraction (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. This film would spawn a sequel, Extraction 2 (2023), which Joe Russo also wrote. A third installment was announced in 2023, and is set to begin production in 2025.

In 2019, the Russo brothers reunited with Marvel alumnus Chadwick Boseman when they produced the action-thriller 21 Bridges. The brothers had approached Boseman about the film at the premiere of Infinity War. Around this time, the Russo brothers also executive produced AGBO's first documentary series, Larry Charles' Dangerous World of Comedy.

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 (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 (2022) starring Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas. Both Cherry and The Gray Man received negative reviews from critics.

The Russo brothers produced the film Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert; it became A24's highest-grossing film worldwide at the box office and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture.

In 2022, they executive produced , which earned record-breaking viewership for Hulu, and the science fiction horror series From. The following year they produced the series Citadel for Amazon, starring Richard Madden, Priyanka Chopra, and Stanley Tucci. Citadel received negative reviews, with much criticism directed toward its $300 million budget. Despite this, the series was renewed for a second season, which was directed entirely by Joe Russo and is set to premiere in 2026.

The brothers reunited with Netflix in March 2025 for the science-fiction action film The Electric State (2025) 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. Critic Lindsey Bahr of The Associated Press wrote of The Electric State, "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." In a review of The Electric State, New York Posts Johnny Oleksinski noted that the Russo brothers' directing efforts after Avengers: Endgame were "some of the worst and priciest movies of the past six years"; he panned this particular film's lack of originality. Despite this critical reception, the film debuted on Netflix as #1 in the platform's Top 10 upon its week of release.

At San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024, Marvel Studios announced that the Russo brothers would return to direct (2026) and (2027), and that AGBO would be co-producing the films. Filming began in late 2024.

On March 1, 2024, it was announced that the Russo brothers would produce the upcoming action film The Bluff, directed by Frank E. Flowers and starring Priyanka Chopra, for Amazon MGM Studios. On February 5, 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 filmmaking side, the Russos have repeatedly partnered with casting director Sarah Finn, who worked on all four Marvel films, as well as AGBO projects such as Mosul, Extraction, Cherry, The Electric State, and Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Musically, they have worked with composer Alan Silvestri on Infinity War, Endgame, and The Electric State, and frequently collaborate with composer Henry Jackman ( Winter Soldier, Civil War, Cherry, The Bluff). Stunt coordinator-turned-director Sam Hargrave began his work with the Russos as Chris Evans' stunt double, and was elevated to 2nd unit director on Marvel films before making his directorial debut with Extraction and Extraction 2 under the AGBO banner.

In 2015, 2017 and 2019, they were nominated jointly for the Saturn Award for Best Director for , and , respectively. In 2015, 2019 and 2020, they were nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, respectively. All nominations were shared with writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. They received Dragon Awards nominations for "Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie" for Captain America: Civil War in 2016 and for in 2018. The brothers won the Dragon Award in that category for Avengers: Endgame in 2019.

On February 21, 2025, the Russo brothers were honored with the handprint and footprint ceremony in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. They were joined by family, friends and colleagues Chris Pratt, Yvette Nicole Brown and Alison Brie.

Executive producers only

• Crashing (2007)
• Super Me (2009)
• A Merry Friggin' Christmas (2014)
• Dizzy Pursuit (2018)
• Relic (2020)
• All Fun and Games (2023)

Uncredited directors

• Ant-Man (2015) (Post-credits scene)
• Captain Marvel (2019) (Mid-credits scene)
• Thunderbolts* (2025) (Post-credits scene)
• (2025) (Mid-credits scene)

Other

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

• List of highest-grossing film directors