Netflix looks to be reuniting with some familiar faces as sources tell Deadline the streamer has come on to Joe and Anthony Russo’s next directing feature The Electric State with Millie Bobby Brown set to star. Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely adapted the script with the Russos and Mike Larocca producing for AGBO. Chris Castaldi, and Patrick Newall are also producing. Rumors surfaced earlier this year that Chris Pratt was in talks to co-star and while a deal hasn’t closed sources say Pratt is still in talks to board the project.
The film is based on adaptation of the illustrated novel by Simon Stålenhag and is set in a retro-futuristic past, where an orphaned teenager (Brown) traverses the American West with a sweet but mysterious robot and an eccentric drifter in search of her younger brother. Angela Russo-Otstot, Jake Aust, Geoff Haley, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely are exec producing.
Deadline broke the news about the Russos teaming with Brown at the end of 2020 when Universal was circling the package. When deals couldn’t be made, Netflix moved in fast to land the rights given their strong ties to both Brown and the Russos. The siblings upcoming feature The Gray Man starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans bows next month and still remains one of the biggest tentpoles Netflix has ever greenlit to date. That film bows in theaters on July 15 and on the streamer the following week.
Netflix has been circling the project since the top of the year but key was lining up schedules for the Russos and Brown. With deals now closed, the film is looking at a fall start date. While an exact number is unknown for the budget, sources say it will rival what Netflix spent on The Gray Man given scope of the film.
Brown is coming off her critically acclaimed performance in the fourth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things, which officially became the biggest series in the streamers history following its premiere over Memorial Day weekend. The highly-anticipated conclusion, Volume 2, bows on Friday. Brown also has the Netflix action-adventure pic Damsel coming up as well as Enola Holmes 2.
Besides the highly-anticipated premiere of The Gray Man, the Russos and AGBO have continued their partnership with Netflix as they recently finished production on the sequel to Extraction with Chris Hemsworth reprising his role AGBO producing.
Brown is repped by WME and the Russos are repped by CAA.
