Giancarlo Esposito, Anthony Mackie are lending their voice in the Netflix film The Electric State from directors Joe and Anthony Russo. Millie Bobby Brown, Ke Huy Quan, Chris Pratt, Stanley Tucci, Billy Bob Thornton, and Jason Alexander have also been cast in the film.
The Electric State is based on Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag’s a book of illustrations. Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely will adapt its narrative into a sci-fi adventure.
Set in an alternative America in the mid-1990s, The Electric State centers on a young girl (Brown) traveling across the country in the wake of a civil war between humanity and the robots that once served them, looking to find her missing brother.
Esposito will play an antagonist known as the Marshall, a robotic drone manned by Esposito’s character remotely and tasked with hunting down the robot aiding Brown’s character on her quest. (The drone is played on set by a performance-capture actor; Esposito will shoot his side later in production.)
Quan will play a doctor that Brown’s character needs to find; he’s taking over the role from his “Everything Everywhere All at Once” costar Michelle Yeoh, who had to depart the film due to scheduling conflicts.
Chris Pratt costars as a smuggler she meets along the way; Stanley Tucci and Jason Alexander round out the cast.
Mackie and Thornton will each voice sentient robots in the film. Mackie’s character is a sidekick for Pratt’s, while Thornton voices a key figure in the civil war.
AGBO approached the project with the potential to develop other spin-offs set within its larger world.
The film is currently in production in Atlanta, with an eye to debut in 2024.
The Russos are producing along with AGBO co-founder Mike Larocca, and Chris Castaldi and Patrick Newall. It’s executive produced by Markus, McFeely, Angela Russo-Otstot, Jake Aust, Geoff Haley and Jeff Ford.