How Brad Pitt's BULLET TRAIN Action Film Was Influenced By Jackie Chan's Work
Brad Pitt’s upcoming action film Bullet Train looks like a ton of fun! The movie is sure to be an action-packed spectacle, but as you’ve seen in the trailer, it also features some fun comedy. The movie is being directed by David Leitch (John Wick, Deadpool 2) and during a recent interview with Empire Online, he revealed that the film was heavily influenced by Jackie Chan and his style of stunt work and slapstick humor-infused acrobatics.
Leitch explained: "You hear the title Bullet Train and you think, 'Hard-boiled action.' But really it's a deliriously fun, heightened, comedic action thriller." He went on to add that Jackie Chan’s classic fight scenes inspired "a little bit of physical comedy. The fights are designed to enhance the characters. We’re here to have fun in this super-contained space.”
He also talks about Brad Pitt’s character Ladybug, describing him as “someone who’s pondering their place in the world. He’s having an existential crisis as all of these horrific things are happening around them. It makes him really relatable.”
The film is based on the Japanese novel Maria Beetle written by Kotaro Isaka. The story follows five assassins who “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 each other. The question becomes who will make it off the train alive and what awaits them at the terminal station?”
The synopsis for the film reads: “An original movie event, Bullet Train is a fun, delirious action-thriller from the director of Deadpool 2, David Leitch. Brad Pitt headlines an ensemble cast of eclectic, diverse assassins – all with connected yet conflicting objectives – set against the backdrop of a non-stop ride through modern-day Japan.”
This movie looks like a blast and it also stars Joey King, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Zazie Beetz, Michael Shannon, Logan Lerman, Sandra Bullock, Lady Gaga, Masi Oka, and Andrew Koji.
Bullet Train speeds into theaters on July 29th.