Joe and Anthony Russo‘s next directing venture The Electric Slate, starring Millie Bobby Brown, has found a home at streaming platform Netflix. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the development comes after nearly half a year of negotiations. The movie was previously set up at Universal Pictures, which eventually passed up the deal due to budget issues. The new budget is more than USD 200 million, said sources.
The Electric Slate, based on the acclaimed 2018 graphic novel by Simon Stalenhag of Tales from the Loop fame, is a reunion of sorts.
This marks the second big-budget collaboration of the Russo Brothers, known for Marvel Studios blockbusters Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, with the streamer following The Gray Man, the action movie which premieres in July.
Brown, the star of Netflix’s Stranger Things series and Enola Holmes film franchise, will headline The Electric Slate, with Chris Pratt, who featured in the Russos’ Avengers films, in talks to join her.
Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, whose credits include The Gray Man and the Avengers movies, will adapt Stalenhag’s novel for screen.
The story follows an orphaned teenager, played by Brown, “who traverses an American West that is reminiscent of a retro-future with a sweet but mysterious robot and an eccentric drifter in search of her younger brother”.
Russos are also producing the feature film via their AGBO banner, along with the company’s co-founder, Mike Larocca. Chris Castaldi and Patrick Newall are also credited as producers.
Markus, McFeely, Angela Russo-Otstot, Jake Aust, and Geoff Haley are attached to executive produce the movie. Production is expected to begin later this year in Atlanta.
