Netflix might be canceling fan favorite shows left, right, and center (with Fate: The Winx Saga becoming the latest casualty), while also infuriating fans of established shows by replacing Henry Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia with Liam Hemsworth beginning with season 4 of The Witcher, but the platform isn’t going to give up on mega budget blockbusters packed with star power – and they don’t come much more epic than Joe and Anthony Russo’s The Electric State.
Adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by Simon Stålenhag, the $200 million epic boasts the streaming service’s crown jewel Millie Bobby Brown in the lead role, with support coming from Michelle Yeoh, Stanley Tucci, Jason Alexander, Brian Cox, Jenny Slate, and Chris Pratt.
In a rare turn of events for such a high-profile project, the Avengers: Endgame and The Gray Man directors hand-picked Brown for the leading role as their number one candidate, something she admitted was practically “unheard of” in Hollywood during an interview with Collider to promote the impending arrival of Enola Holmes 2.
“The fact that they were so dead-set on me playing her, just the fact that you… That trust in a director with an actor, it’s really unheard of, and I don’t really get to experience that very often. So the fact that they wanted me only made me want them even more. And to be able to have that opportunity to make this movie with them has been such an amazing experience, and it’s just been a really good collaborative effort. It feels like I’m actually working with, I mean, real, real experienced, experienced team. Their team is incredible, the directors are amazing, obviously, and I’ve got an amazing cast to be alongside.”
The 18 year-old is no stranger to effects-heavy epics after her roles in Stranger Things, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Godzilla vs. Kong, but shouldering the burden as the star of a high concept story that finds a teenager trekking across the desolate wasteland of post-apocalyptic America with a robot in tow to try and track down her younger brother is a different beast.
Production is underway on The Electric State as recent set photos will attest, but it could be a while before the end product makes its way to the small screen.