Anthony and Joe Russo, the Russo Brothers, have directed some of the biggest movies of all time, with their film Avengers: Endgame coming in second place just behind James Cameron’s Avatar… but that hasn’t made it any easier to get their sci-fi adventure film The Electric State out into the world. The project was first announced back in 2017, when the Russos purchased the film rights to the The Electric State graphic novel by Simon Stålenhag, with their frequent collaborators Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely working on the screenplay and Andy Muschietti in negotiations to direct. The project was set up at Universal in 2020, by which time Muschietti had stepped back into an executive producer role while the Russos took the helm. Then Universal passed it over to Netflix. Filming finally began in 2022 and wrapped in early 2023, with some reshoots taking place this year. Now it looks like The Electric State might finally be almost ready to make its way out into the world, as the Motion Picture Association ratings board has revealed that they’ve given the film a PG-13 rating for sci-fi violence/action, language and some thematic material.

The graphic novel had the following description: 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.

For the film adaptation, Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) takes the lead as a young woman traveling across the country after a civil war between humanity and the robots that once served them spirals out of control. While searching for her missing brother, Brown’s character meets a mysterious smuggler, played by Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy). Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) plays an antagonist called the Marshall, who operates a robotic drone remotely and is tasked with hunting down the robot traveling with Brown’s character on her quest. Ke Huy Quan (The Goonies) plays a doctor Brown’s character is desperate to find. Quan’s Everything Everywhere All At Once co-star Michelle Yeoh was once attached to play the character, but had to drop out due to scheduling issues.

Anthony Mackie (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) and Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade) provide the voices for robot characters. Mackie’s robot is a sidekick to the smuggler played by Pratt, while Thornton’s robot is a key figure in the civil war. Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada) and Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) are also in the cast.

The Russos are producing The Electric State with Mike Larocca, Chris Castaldi, and Patrick Newall. Markus and McFeely serve as executive producers with Angela Russo-Otstot, Jake Aust, Geoff Haley, and Jeff Ford.

Are you glad to hear that The Electric State has secured a PG-13 rating and taken a step closer to being released? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

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