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Apple buys Joe and Anthony Russo's 'Cherry' starring Tom Holland, an opioid-crisis movie set and filmed in Cleveland

The movie, which was filmed last fall, is now eligible for the upcoming 2021 Oscar season.

CLEVELAND — According to a new report from Deadline, Apple has purchased the rights to distribute the latest project from "Avengers: Endgame" directors and Northeast Ohio natives, Anthony and Joe Russo. 

The movie, "Cherry," was filmed in Cleveland last fall and stars "Spiderman: Homecoming" and "Avengers: Endgame" star, Tom Holland. 

"Cherry," based on the 2018 debut novel from author Nico Walker, follows the story of a Cleveland man who drops out of school to enlist in the Army, only to return home as a veteran with PTSD. The story's main character then finds himself swept up in the opioid epidemic in the country and resorting to a life of crime to deal with the dangerous addiction. 

According to Deadline, Apple reportedly shelled out more than $40 million to secure the worldwide rights to the finished film. 

Due to recent changes within the Academy Awards' consideration process regarding digitally-streamed movies, as well as the Oscar's decision to push back the submission date for the 2020-2021 season by two months, "Cherry" will be up for Oscar consideration for the 2021 ceremony. 

The Russo brothers discussed the upcoming film during a Comic-Con appearance in 2019, saying that they believed the film needed to be made because of it's relevance to the ongoing opioid crisis in the United States, especially in the midwest. 

"It's touched our families, the crisis, so it's a deeply personal movie for us," said Anthony at the time, "Joe and I are now in a position now where we can get those movies made, and we want to use that sort of capital that we built up," Anthony said during the Comic-con panel. 

No word as to when the film, which also stars Ciara Bravo ("Red Band Society"), will premiere on AppleTV. 

    

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