All aboard! The year 2022 is already looking bright with several upcoming films that will undoubtedly be blockbusters upon hitting theaters. One of those movies is Bullet Train. This action-thriller is filled with A-list talent.
Filming has already wrapped for Bullet Train, which means it won’t be too long before the movie hits theaters. From the stellar cast to what we know about the release date, HollywoodLife has all the latest updates about Bullet Train.
Release Date
Filming began in late 2020 and wrapped in March 2021. Bullet Train was initially going to be released on April 8, 2022. In December 2021, Bullet Train’s release date was pushed back to August 5, 2022. The film will be released exclusively in theaters and will not be available immediately on any streaming service.
Cast & Crew
Brad Pitt was the first major star to sign on to the film in July 2020. He will play a character named Ladybug, one of the assassins on board the bullet train. The movie is Brad’s first role since 2019, when he starred in Ad Astra and Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. The latter earned him an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.
The cast also includes Joey King as Prince, Andrew Koji as Kimura, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Tangerine, Brian Tyree Henry as Lemon, Zazie Beetz as Hornet, Masi Oka, Michael Shannon, Logan Lerman, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Karen Fukuhara. Latin Grammy winner Bad Bunny was added to the cast in December 2020.
Lady Gaga was in talks to star alongside Brad in the film, but she had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with House of Gucci, according to Collider. Sandra Bullock later signed on to replace Gaga in the film. Sandra will be playing the role of Maria Beetle, Ladybug’s handler.
Bullet Train will be the second movie of 2022 to feature Sandra and Brad. Brad also has a role in Sandra’s upcoming rom-com The Lost City, which will be released on March 25, 2022. Even though they’ve been Hollywood stars for decades, they’ve never been in movies together until 2022!
The action thriller will be directed by David Leitch. David’s past work includes directing Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, and Hobbs & Shaw. Brad made a notable cameo in Deadpool 2 as the Vanisher. David also serves as a producer, alongside Antoine Fuqua, Kelly McCormick, and Kat Samick. The screenplay was penned by Zak Olkewicz.
Throughout the filming process, David has been posting behind-the-scenes photos on his Instagram page. He first posted about Bullet Train when filming began in November 2020. “All aboard! Bullet Train,” he captioned a photo from the set.
A month later, David shared a photo of one of the cast members filming a scene. The star’s face was not featured in the photo. “You can get on, but you may not leave,” David wrote.
A few months later in February 2021, David posted a picture of a cast member’s arm covered in blood. “He really liked that suit!!! :/ Oh well…” he captioned the photo. Once again, you could not see the actor’s face in the picture.
What Is The Plot Of ‘Bullet Train’?
The film is based on the Japanese novel, Maria Beetle, by mystery writer Kotaro Isaka. The book was originally published in 2010. When announcing the film in July 2020, Deadline gave this synopsis for Bullet Train: “Five assassins find themselves on a fast-moving bullet train from Tokyo to Morioka with only a few stops in between. They discover their missions are not unrelated to one another. The question becomes, who will make it off the train alive and what awaits them at the terminal station?”
The first footage of Bullet Train was unveiled at CinemaCon in August 2021 during an opening night presentation from Sony Pictures. Variety’s description of the scene that was shared read, “Sporting a white pinstripe suit, killer boots and an edge weapon, [Bad] Bunny and [Brad] Pitt slap each other around a luxury cabin on the speeding train. It’s all fun and tussling over a briefcase until someone gets stabbed. The footage also included actor Hiroyuki Sanada as an ominous passenger.” The scene hasn’t been released publicly as of yet, nor has an official trailer been unveiled.