What is Anthony Russo's Net Worth and Salary?
Anthony Russo is a director, producer, and screenwriter who has a net worth of $80 million. Anthony Russo is best known as one-half of the Russo brothers directing duo, alongside his brother Joe Russo. The pair rose to fame in the 2010s for directing the blockbuster Marvel Comics superhero films "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," "Captain America: Civil War," "Avengers: Infinity War," and "Avengers: Endgame." The Russo brothers have also directed episodes of many television series, including "Arrested Development," "Community," and "Happy Endings."
Marvel Payday
In July 2024, it was revealed that Marvel had tapped the Russo brothers to helm two Avengers movies; "Avengers: Doomsday" and Avengers: Secret Wars." They were paid a combined $80 million to direct the two films. They will earn millions more if the films hit various performance milestones, for example, breaking $1 billion in box office revenue.
Early Life and Education
Anthony Russo was born on February 3, 1970 in Cleveland, Ohio to Patricia and attorney and judge Basil. His brother Joe was born in the summer of the following year. The family is of Italian descent. As teenagers, the Russo brothers attended Benedictine High School. Anthony went on to attend the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a degree in English. He and his brother later attended graduate school at Case Western Reserve University.
Joe and Anthony Russo (Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)
First Films
While they were graduate students at Case Western Reserve University, the Russo brothers began writing, producing, and directing their first feature film, "Pieces." The film played at some festivals in 1997, including the Slamdance Film Festival, where filmmaker Steven Soderbergh saw it and offered to produce the brothers' next film. That film was the caper comedy "Welcome to Collinwood," which was released in 2002. A remake of the 1958 Italian film "Big Deal on Madonna Street," it stars William H. Macy, Isaiah Washington, and Sam Rockwell, among others. The Russo brothers went on to direct the 2006 romantic comedy "You, Me and Dupree," starring Owen Wilson, Matt Dillon, and Kate Hudson.
Marvel Superhero Films
The Russo brothers shot to fame with their fourth film as directors, the Marvel Comics superhero film "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." Released in 2014 as a sequel to "Captain America: The First Avenger," it grossed over $700 million worldwide and became one of the highest-grossing films of the year. The Russo brothers returned as directors for the sequel "Captain America: Civil War," which came out in 2016. An even bigger commercial hit, it grossed over $1.1 billion worldwide to become the highest-grossing film of the year. The Russo brothers next took the helm of "Avengers: Infinity War," released in 2018 as the sequel to "The Avengers" and "The Avengers: Age of Ultron." Another massive commercial success, it broke several box office records and became the fourth film ever to cross $2 billion in worldwide grosses. The Russo brothers repeated that achievement with 2019's "Avengers: Endgame," which became the highest-grossing film ever at the time when it made $2.799 billion worldwide.
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Further Film Career
In 2017, the Russo brothers founded the production company AGBO. Among the first films they produced through the company were the action thriller "21 Bridges" and the action war film "Mosul," both released in 2019. In 2020, the brothers co-produced the action thriller "Extraction," adapted from the graphic novel "Ciudad." They then returned to the directors' chairs to direct the crime drama "Cherry," which came out in 2021. Based on the novel of the same name by Nico Walker, it stars Tom Holland as a PTSD-afflicted veteran who robs banks to subsidize his and his wife's substance addictions.
In 2022, the Russo brothers served as producers on Daniels' hit film "Everything Everywhere All at Once," which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Also that year, they directed the action thriller "The Gray Man," starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans and based on the novel of the same name by Mark Greaney. The Russo brothers went on to co-produce the 2023 action thriller "Extraction 2," the sequel to "Extraction." Next up, they directed the 2024 science-fiction adventure film "The Electric State," based on the graphic novel by Simon Stålenhag and starring Millie Bobby Brown.
Television Work
The Russo brothers began their television careers in 2003 when they directed the pilot episode of the short-lived FX series "Lucky." Ron Howard was such a fan of the pilot that he helped get the brothers to direct the pilot episode of his upcoming Fox sitcom "Arrested Development." Individually, the Russo brothers went on to direct several further "Arrested Development" episodes through 2005. Meanwhile, they directed many episodes of the short-lived NBC series "LAX." In 2006, the Russo brothers directed the pilot episode of ABC's "What About Brian," and from 2007 to 2008 they directed various episodes of the sitcom "Carpoolers" for the same network.
From 2009 to 2014, the Russo brothers directed numerous episodes of the NBC sitcom "Community," starting with the pilot episode. They directed episodes of several other shows during that time, including the pilots of "Running Wilde," "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret," "Happy Endings," and "Animal Practice." The duo continued directing for the latter two shows after their respective pilot episodes. Since 2019, the Russo brothers have served as executive producers on many shows, including the Syfy series "Deadly Class," the MGM+ science-fiction horror series "From," and the Amazon Prime Video spy thriller series "Citadel."
Personal Life
With his wife Ann, Russo has two children.
