David Leitch’s Bullet Train has booked a theatrical release date of April 8, 2022, Sony announced Monday.
Category: Bullet Train
Brad Pitt Went from Playing a Stuntman to Doing His Own Stunts, Man
Last year, Brad Pitt reached a career high-water mark, nabbing the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of a late ’60s stunt double of shaggy hair and few words in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood. Coincidence then that the 57-year-old has suddenly decided to pursue performing his own stunts with new vigor?
As Greg Rementer, the second-unit director and stunt coordinator on Pitt’s just-now-wrapping-production thriller Bullet Train, exclusively tells Vulture, the actor has been largely eschewing the services of a stunt double to portray a hitman named Ladybug in the film. “Brad did 95 percent of his physical stunts — the fighting,” Rementer says. “He’s like a natural-born athlete. He really got in there!”
‘Bullet Train’: Why Brad Pitt and David Leitch’s Assassin Movie Is Such a Hot Property
Producer Kelly McCormick explains why so many people wanted to be involved in the star-studded action flick.
Bullet Train is one of the hot action properties in Hollywood right now. The new film from David Leitch (Atomic Blonde) stars Brad Pitt and revolves around a bullet train full of assassins all connected to a nefarious conspiracy. The packed cast also includes Sandra Bullock, Lady Gaga, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Zazie Beetz, Joey King, Michael Shannon, Logan Lerman, Masi Oka, and Andrew Koji.
Collider’s Steven Weintraub recently spoke to the film’s producer, Kelly McCormick, for her new movie, Nobody, and she revealed that they’ve got about two weeks left of shooting on the film and then many months of post-production. When asked why everyone wants to jump on board, McCormick cited that the premise of the project is a lot of fun for actors who also want to work with Leitch and Pitt.
“I think the combo in what this movie is, which is kind of a crazy crime caper, is a really exciting combo for fans as well as actors,” said McCormick. “I can’t speak more highly of the picture and the experience. Every day is an absolute riot.”
One of the things that was fun about the action on this is the confined space, in that we’re basically on a bullet train for the whole picture. So, how do you… What is creative? What is original? What is fresh, with regards to that? And, that’s been a really fun challenge for David, as well as the action team headed by 2nd unit director Greg Rementer.
Also, some folks may not know that before Leitch was a massively in-demand director, he was Brad Pitt’s stunt double (hence Pitt’s surprise cameo in Deadpool 2). McCormick talked about how the dynamic has shifted now that Leitch is directing Pitt in an action movie and how the actor trained for the role:
To see them together now, you can kind of get hints of what that was, but it’s obviously completely different, because the dynamic is a little bit different. They are extraordinary partners in my opinion and are having a blast. Brad is a generous actor and a good human being. In my opinion, this is a Brad performance that we’ve never seen him do before. It’s light, it’s fun, it’s crazy, and he’s having a ball, I think. And, we are too…He trained a lot. And, part of it, I think is because he’s working for the guy who used to take the punches for him, so he has something to prove. But, even in COVID, early on, before we were shooting, we were going to his house, masking up, getting our tests, and getting him in a fighting shape. It was… He’s been very dedicated to the project.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Bullet Train is the kind of big, blockbuster action spectacle that drives people to the theater, not only with the cast they’ve assembled, but with the set pieces we know Leitch can construct.