'The Electric State': Millie Bobby Brown Will Star In Sci-Fi Film From The Russo Brothers

The Millie Bobby Brown/Russo Brothers team-up that I'm sure someone, somewhere, was waiting for is finally happening. Universal just picked up the rights to The Electric State, a new sci-fi film that the Russos will direct and Brown will star in. Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who have worked with the Russos on Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, are handling the script, which is based on the book by artist Simon Stålenhag. Stålenhag's art also inspired the recent Amazon series Tales From the Loop.

Deadline has the scoop that the Russo Brothers will direct Millie Bobby Brown in The Electric State, based on the book by Simon Stålenhag. The film is set in an alternative future, and "tells the story of a teenage girl (Millie Bobby Brown) who realizes that a strange but sweet robot who comes to her has actually been sent by her missing brother. She and the robot set out to find the brother in an imaginative world of humans mixing with all manner of robots, uncovering a grand conspiracy in the process." The book jacket has a more detailed synopsis:

In late 1997, a runaway teenager and her small yellow toy robot travel west through a strange American landscape where the ruins of gigantic battle drones litter the countryside, along with the discarded trash of a high-tech consumerist society addicted to a virtual-reality system. As they approach the edge of the continent, the world outside the car window seems to unravel at an ever faster pace, as if somewhere beyond the horizon, the hollow core of civilization has finally caved in.

Stålenhag's art, which often features retro-futuristic ideas (and lots of large robots) also inspired the Amazon series Tales From the Loop. At one point, It team Andy and Barbara Muschietti were hoping to adapt the book, with Andy Muschietti directing. But since the Muschietti's are currently focused on The Flash, the Russos are now at the helm of The Electric State.

"We're thrilled to have this deal with Universal who has committed to a theatrical release of Electric State," the Russos said. "This is incredible news for us as filmmakers, and for audiences around the world who want an opportunity to experience films in theaters again. This is also a positive sign that, as vaccines become available, the theatrical market is returning."

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who worked with the Russos on several Marvel films, are handling the script. "We'd have Joe and Anthony direct everything that we write and were excited the timing worked out for them to come on as directors," McFeely said. "What's nice about this is the themes of Electric State syncs up with their interests in technology and feels like the perfect property for them."