The Russo brothers nab the rights to The Electric State for IT’s Muschietti
The Russo Brothers Studio has just won the rights to the illustrated novel The Electric State from author Simon Stålenhag, according to Deadline. IT director Andy Muschietti is currently in negotiations to direct and to produce with Barbara Muschietti. Joe and Anthony Russo are set to produce as well, with Russell Ackerman and John Schoenfelder, with Russo Brothers Studio production head Mike Larocca as executive producer. The Electric State has reportedly been a hot property with a number of studios and directors looking to be a part of the project.
The Electric State will be adapted by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who wrote Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War and its sequel, all of which were directed by the Russo brothers. Stålenhag will also executive produce.
The book, which was the subject of a Kickstarter campaign, is described this way: “In late 1997, a runaway teenager and her yellow toy robot travel west through a strange USA, where the ruins of gigantic battle drones litter the countryside heaped together with the discarded trash of a high tech consumerist society in decline. As their car approaches the edge of the continent, the world outside the window seems to be unraveling ever faster as if somewhere beyond the horizon, the hollow core of civilization has finally caved in.”
Stålenhag is known for his work on Tales from the Loop and Things From the Flood.
The Russo brothers told the site, “The opportunity to partner with inspirational talents like Simon, Andy, Chris and Steve is exactly the reason we started our company. We can’t wait to help this team create something special.”
The Kickstarter site explains Stålenhag’s vision: “His highly imaginative images and stories depicting illusive sci-fi phenomena in mundane, hyper-realistic Scandinavian landscapes have made Stålenhag one of the most sought-after visual storytellers in the world.
“Now, Stålenhag turns his unique vision to America in a new narrative artbook: The Electric State. With your support, these amazing images will turn into a top-quality narrative artbook, truly doing justice to the extreme attention to detail and quality of Stålenhag’s work.”
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