Deadline reported yesterday that the Russo Brothers won the bidding war for the to the illustrated novel The Electric State by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag. The Electric State is the latest of its kind from Stålenhag and the result of a crazy successful Kickstarter campaign.
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.
The Russo Brothers have been holding on to their Marvel money and putting it towards projects of their own choosing through their own banner Russo Brothers Studio. From the report over at Deadline it looks like they will hand over The Electric State to Andy Muschietti, directer of It, who is negotiating to direct the film. He will produce with his sister Barbara Muschietti. The Russos have also given the task of writing the script to their Captain America and Avengers Infinity War collaborators Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.
“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.”