Despite the disappointing reviews for “Cherry” don’t tell the Russo Brothers that taking on their independently financed drama was a stretch. They might have directed the second highest-grossing blockbuster of all time, “Avengers Endgame,” and produced numerous television series, but their roots are actually in indie film. Wait, you don’t remember their Park City debut, “Pieces”?
“We came up through the independent film scene and we’re discovered out of Slamdance. And [Steven] Soderbergh taught us very early a mantra,” Joe Russo recalls. “He said, ‘One for you, one for them.’ And he said, ‘Learn how to make big commercial fare so that you can then use the brand leverage that you get from that to make more challenging projects.’ And we had a big one for them. Marvel. You know? And came out the other side. And we’re now in a very fortunate position where we have our own studio and we can now get some more challenging projects made.”
He continues, “We made a movie called, ‘Mosul’ with an all Arabic cast spoken in Arabic language because we just had not seen a Hollywood film where Arabic actors were portrayed as protagonists or heroes. Made a film called, ‘Relic’ with a first-time female director with an all-female cast. It was a treatise on dementia. We have a project with the Obamas called, ‘Exit West,’ which is about the refugee crisis in the Middle East. We have another project called, ‘Cambridge Analytica.’ It’s about micro-targeting misinformation on the internet. All issues, which are important to us, that we’re passionate about.”
And that passion also came to pass for “Cherry,” an adaption of Nico Walker’s best-selling novel of the same name.
“It was a book that we fell in love with because the author grew up in all the neighborhoods that we grew up in,” Joe Russo says. “Worked at the same restaurant I worked at 10 years behind me. And we understood the psychology of the book. And because people close to us were struggling with addiction. So, it just felt like a story that we needed to tell. And we had a window and [were] game to go do it.”
In “Cherry,” the title character (Tom Holland), returns to his home state of Ohio after a harrowing tour of duty in the Iraq War as an army medic. Almost immediately, he begins suffering traumatic PTSD symptoms from his combat experiences. He is prescribed opioids by his doctor and soon descends into harder drugs such as heroin. For the Russos, the issue of opioid addiction hit home.
“Look. The opioid epidemic has been devastating globally, but particularly in the United States and particularly in parts of the United States and Cleveland, where we’re from, it’s a bit of a ground zero for the opioid epidemic,” Anthony Russo says. “I think the opioid problem took hold there stronger and earlier than other places and has reached there harder. And the fact that that epidemic is still ongoing. This past year has seen the highest number of overdoses from opioids yet, in the epidemic. So, all those things swirling together really activated us to really want to make this movie now.”
The picture is also a reunion for the Russos with Holland, who they helped cast as Spider-Man for “Captain America: Civil War.” Not only did they know his range, but what he can convey on screen.
“Working with him, what he does in like, 15 seconds before he disappears [in ‘Avengers Infinity War‘], he broke everyone’s heart around the world,” Anthony Russo says. “We knew that he had real power and in his onscreen presence and incredible range. He’s also fearless. He’s a great, great guy. He’s fun to be around. He’s super directable. And he works his ass off. And all those things combined really make him the perfect actor and the kind of actor that we would work with on every project.”
In the weeks ahead the Russos will begin shooting the spy thriller “The Gray Man” for Netflix with Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, and Chris Evans. More recently, however, they experienced a welcome homage from their old friends at Marvel Studios. In the seventh episode of “WandaVision,” the sitcom “intro” was inspired by “Happy Endings,” a 2011-2013 comedy series that the Russos executive produced and directed.
“It was fantastic. We really pleasantly surprised by that,” Joe Russo says. “David Caspe, who created ‘Happy Endings,’ actually texted me the next day giddy that somebody would do an homage to Happy Endings. I texted Caspe back and said, ‘Hey. When are you going to reboot the show?’ It was one of our favorites as well. And it was criminally underserved and short-lived, but just a phenomenal cast with exceptional writing. And really ahead of it’s time.”
“Cherry” is now in select theaters and available worldwide on Apple TV+ March 12.
