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Why 'Avengers: Endgame' was so popular, according to Joe Russo

Chris Evans in Avengers: Endgame
Chris Evans in Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame managed to become the highest grossing film of all time because it was a spectacular, communal event that audiences knew they had to leave their house to experience, according to Joe Russo.

Russo, who co-directed the blockbuster alongside his older brother Anthony, made this explanation to The Hollywood Reporter, remarking, “We have to look to ourselves to provide the right kind of entertainment to get people to come out of the house. It's more competitive than it's ever been.”

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“I think [audiences] want new and interesting concepts. They want it presented in a way that feels spectacular and worthy of walking out the door and sitting in a theater. They want a communal experience.”

“I think Endgame was reflective of that as a communal experience that you couldn't get in your house: the screaming and the cheering and the communal crying and the communal laughter.”

Director Joseph Russo poses during a photo session for AFP at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival Day 5 on September 9, 2019, in Toronto, Ontario. - When you have just directed the biggest blockbuster movie of all time, you earn the clout to dictate terms with even the highest executives in Hollywood. But for the Russo brothers, it also raised a question that would be familiar to the superheroes of "Avengers: Endgame" -- what to do next with all that power? (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP)        (Photo credit should read VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)

“That's why people go to the theater. There's all different kinds of movies that can provide that. We have to work harder to provide that, to earn their trust and respect.”

After directing Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America: Civil War, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier over the last six years, the Russo Brothers are looking to change gears with their upcoming movies.

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Later this year, the pair will release Cherry, an adaptation of Nico Walker’s novel based on his own experiences robbing banks to fund his opioid addiction after returning to Cleveland from Iraq.

It stars Tom Holland as Nico Walker, and is expected to be released before the end of 2020, while Joe Russo has also written the action thriller Out Of The Fire, which will star Chris Hemsworth, and will be directed by Sam Hargrave.