It won't be long before Joe and Anthony Russo debut their first film since directing both Avengers finales, Infinity War and Endgame. The project is called CHERRY, and it stars Spider-Man actor Tom Holland as an Army medic suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who becomes a serial bank robber after an addiction to drugs puts him in debt. The Russos tweeted today via their AGBO banner that the coming-of-age drama will arrive in theaters on February 26, 2021, and on Apple TV+ on March 12, 2021.
“We do think about it as an epic film, and it is very much a person’s life journey,” Anthony Russo recently told Vanity Fair about what has been regarded as a small passion project for the duo. “But it does have a little bit of a split personality between being this character study and an epic life cycle.”
While continuing their in-depth talk about the upcoming film, Joe Russo explained that CHERRY is like having six movies in one, with the events taking place from the mid-2000s to the present. “He travels a great distance over a 15-year period,” Joe Russo said. “The movie’s broken up into six chapters that reflect those different periods, and each one has a different tone. It’s shot with different lenses, different production design. One’s got magical realism. Another chapter is absurdism. Another is horror…There’s a bit of gonzo in it. It’s raw in its tone. He’s a character in an existential crisis.”
Written by the filmmakers’ sister, Angela Russo-Otstot and Jessica Goldberg, CHERRY is based on the 2018 novel by Nico Walker. The story is based on Walker's own life, and how after returning from Iraq he suffered from extreme undiagnosed PTSD, which then led to a fierce opioid addiction as well as a bank-robbing crime spree. Walker's tale isn't exactly run-of-the-mill, which could explain why the Russos were so keen on bringing the story to life on-screen.
Joining Holland for CHERRY is Ciara Bravo, Nicole Forester, Kelli Berglund, and Thomas Lennon, among others. With a release date now set for the film, one would suspect that we'll be seeing a trailer for CHERRY before long. We'll be sure to keep you updated as this project continues to roll out.