IT was one of 2017's biggest success stories. Not only did the Stephen King adaptation bring in dump-trucks full of cash (it's currently listed as the 10th highest grossing film of the year), but it was also met with wildly positive reviews, setting director Andy Muschietti up with his pick of projects. According to Deadline, one of Muschietti's upcoming projects could be THE ELECTRIC STATE, an apocalyptic alt-history sci-fi story based upon the illustrated novel by Simon Stålenhag.
The outlet reports that Andy Muschietti is negotiating to direct the project after Joe and Anthony Russo (AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR) took home the rights in a heated bidding war. The Electric State was produced through Kickstarter and takes place in a re-imagined low tech apocalyptic vision of the mid-1990's American West. Here's the official synopsis via Kickstarter:
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 ELECTRIC STATE is set to be scripted by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, who worked with the Russo brothers on CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, and its as-yet-untitled sequel. In a statement to Deadline, the Russo brothers said, "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."
Should the deal be finalized, before Andy Muschietti gets to tackle THE ELECTRIC STATE, he'll be returning to the town of Derry for IT: CHAPTER TWO, which is already slated for a September 6, 2019 release. The director also signed on to helm a live-action adaptation of 80's anime series Robotech, which takes place in a world where the people of Earth have learned to manufacture giant robots the technology they've harvested from an alien spacecraft that had crashed in the South Pacific. Now, with the foreign machinery's power extracted for their own gain, the human race uses their new-found power to build robots that will protect the planet from impending interstellar attacks.