At this point The Russo Brothers names are synonymous with their work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, after directing the last two Captain America movies as well Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. They've already branched out to other projects, often starring Marvel talent. After producing 21 Bridges with Chadwick Baseman, they took on the same role for Netflix's new action thriller Extraction. Joe Russo also wrote the movie's screenplay, so they're intimately connected with the Chris Hemsworth-led streaming blockbuster. And now The Russo Brothers have reacted to the movie's massive success.
In just one weekend, Extraction became one of Netflix's most successful original movies. Plenty of subscribers streamed Sam Hargrave's new movie when it was released, captivated by the wild action sequences and massive body count. The Russo Brothers recently spoke to the movie's success on Netflix, with writer/producer Joe Russo saying,
It’s interesting, they don’t do a lot of projecting. They’re very guarded with their information, which is a good thing because you don’t set expectations up and then not hit them. So I’m happy with that as a filmmaker there’s not a lot of tracking to either get your hopes up or dash your hopes. It just performs and then you find out how it’s performing. When you think about the amount of people and if you were to compare that to a box-office release, then that’s the equivalent of a movie making over a billion dollars in the market like that. But that’s a significant impression on an audience.
Netflix is notoriously guarded when it comes to its numbers and overall performance. But the streaming service is known to celebrate its victories, which is why it was revealed that Extraction was doing such wild numbers. And when you translate streams to tickets, Extraction seemingly would have made a great deal of money at the box office. Of course, the movie never actually came to theaters.
It looks like the hits just keep coming for The Russo Brothers. Because prior to Extraction, the film world (and pop culture) was dominated by the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. They did the impossible with such a massive cast, and Endgame became the highest grossing movie of all time, beating out the previous record set by Avatar. Clearly they know how to craft action and get audiences excited.
Later in their conversation with Collider, also spoke to Extraction's popularity on Netflix. He added to the conversation, saying:
Sometimes it’s hard to talk about in relation to box office because there’s more external. Those numbers are being released for an objective public narrative, and Netflix doesn’t handle things that way so it’s a little harder. But, yeah, at the very least we all know that it was a massive hit for Netflix. And like Joe was saying, it left an impression on our audience. I was just really grateful for that opportunity and that platform because it’s all about reaching audience.
While Extraction wasn't able to hit theaters and make money at the box office, it's currently the movie that's on everyone's lips. And with theaters closed, there's even more of a captive audience available to watch Extraction rom the safety of their own home. This no doubt helped contribute to the streaming numbers for the movie on Netflix, as well as the reputation of both The Russos and Chris Hemsworth.
Since Extraction ended up being distributed on Netflix, the movie also has the ability to meet a wider audience. It's available all over the world, and audiences are clearly responding well to the wild action thriller. We'll just have to see how popular it continues to be, and if a potential sequel happens on the streaming service following the movie's ambiguous ending.
Extraction is currently available to stream over on Netflix. Be sure to check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
