The Russo Bros. Will Direct CHERRY After They Are Done with AVENGERS 4
Joe and Anthony Russo have been locked in directing Marvel films for the past few years. But after Avengers 4 they are going to move on to something a little different. Something that doesn't deal with superpowers.
They have picked up the rights to a book called Cherry, which comes from first-time author Nico Walker. The Russo's production company ARBO bought the rights for a cool million after a bidding war, and it will be the next film they direct.
The book is said to parallel the true life story of the author, who was a former Army medic who returned from Iraq with extreme undiagnosed PTSD and fell into opioid addiction and began robbing banks. Walker ended up getting caught in 2011 and will be released in 2020.
The script for Cherry will be written by Jessica Goldberg (The Path) and here's a more in-depth description from Deadline:
The book has been called Jesus’ Son meets Reservoir Dogs, a breakneck-paced debut novel about love, war, bank robberies, and heroin. A young man from an affluent family marries his hometown girlfriend before joining the Army and shipping out to Iraq. An Army medic, he is unprepared for the grisly reality that awaits him, and the rough-and-tumble nature of his fellow soldiers who smoke, huff computer duster, take painkillers, watch porn, and get gruesomely injured all too regularly.
By the time the soldier returns home, his PTSD rages, he’s soon on drugs and in debt, and he finds an outlet in knocking off banks, a pursuit that forces him to focus and makes him feel the way he did in pressure combat situations. Walker robbed about a dozen banks and stole close to $40,000 over four months, before finally getting caught in 2011.
The Russo Bros. are very passionate about this story, and the fact that Walker grew up in the same area of Cleveland as the director made the project a bit more personal. The subject matter also strongly connected with them as they also have lost friends to opioids, and that made them want to put a spotlight on the problem through this film.
Seems like it's going to be a powerful film project, and I have no doubt that the Russo's will give us another incredible film.