This weekend, the directors of Avengers: Endgame have a new film dropping under their AGBO Films banner in the form of Relic. Relic is sure to scare some audiences under the directions of Natalie James but, behind-the-scenes, the film paired up some Marvel veterans. Anthony Russo and Joe Russo were approached by Spider-Man: Far From Home star Jake Gyllenhaal with the idea of Relic and James as a director. As the film is gearing up for an on demand release, the Russo Brothers opened up about the project while talking to ComicBook.com about their latest episode of Russo Bros. Pizza Film School.
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“It was awesome. I mean, [Gyllenhaal] initially found the film and the filmmaker and then brought it to us to help produce and finance,” Joe Russo explained. “We absolutely loved the script. And Natalie James, who directed the film, has some incredible short films that she made prior to this, it was very evident that she was extremely talented. So, we couldn’t have been prouder to support her and the movie, and Jake who has exceptional taste, very grateful he brought the movie to us.”
Relic tells the story of a daughter, mother and grandmother who find themselves haunted by a manifestation of dementia that consumes their family’s home.
As it turns out, there is “very little” time spent talking about or comparing experiences on Marvel projects despite having those resumรฉ builder in common.
“Maybe over a beer when we’re laughing about the time when said something happened,” Anthony Russo said. “But I mean, it is interesting that I just think everyone’s been in Marvel at this point in some capacity. You are always going to run into people who are, who have been involved in a Marvel movie in some way.”
“Plus Marvel’s just so, the brand is so well known that anyone comes out of it, comes out of it with some extra capital that they can use to leverage other movies to get made,” Joe Russo adds. “Smaller films, more experimental films. And us teaming up with Jake on Relic was really both of us lending our brand capital to an amazing young filmmaker.”
Relic is available now on demand.