Captain America: Civil War directors head to China for next superhero film

Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, directors of Captain America: Civil War and the upcoming Avengers movies, are hoping to repeat their superhero success in China. They are producing a new superhero franchise for Chinese audiences, starting with the upcoming film A Hero's Awakening, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The unknown character will be an original creation, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film — the first of at least three planned in the series — is entering production at the Russos' Chinese movie studio, which they opened in March.

Although it's a locally grown project made for Chinese superhero fans, an international pair of directors is helming the feature. American concept artist Anthony Leonardi III (Game of Thrones, The Jungle Book) will co-direct with Chinese filmmaker Mushui Feng.

A Hero's Awakening is in the early scripting phase, and it's unclear whether it will make it overseas. Civil War and other big-budget action movies have found success in China, though, which in part led Joe Russo (above left) and Anthony Russo (right) to tap into the Chinese movie market to tap into the Chinese movie market. Well, that and its sheer size: China's box office grossed $6.8 billion in 2015.

Read our review of Civil War in the meantime for our take on how the Russos, who got their start in comedy TV, handle big-budget superhero films.