Deadline reports that young actress Joey King is currently in negotiations to play the role of Prince in Sony’s action film Bullet Train from director David Leitch (Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde). Oscar-winner Brad Pitt is set to play an assassin named Ladybug.
The film is based on the novel Maria Beetle from Japanese author Kotaro Isaka, it will focus on a group of assassins on a bullet train.
King’s credits include The Dark Knight Rises, The Conjuring, White House Down, The Act, and most recently with Netflix’s The Kissing Booth 2.
Filming is expected to begin this fall in Los Angeles, California.
However, that will likely be dependant on how the city/state is doing with the pandemic and if there is a second wave that shuts down productions.
According to Deadline, Oscar-winner Brad Pitt will be reuniting with Deadpool 2 director David Leitch on Sony’s upcoming action flick Bullet Train taking a lead role.
There are finally some details revealed about the film as well.
Bullet Train is based on the Japanese novel Maria Beetle by Kotaro Isaka and was penned by screenwriter Zak Olkewicz.
In the novel, 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 each other. The question becomes who will make it off the train alive and what awaits them at the terminal station?
Leitch is best-known as co-directing the first John Wick film then moving on to his solo directing career on projects such Atomic Blonde, Hobbs & Shaw, and the previously mentioned Deadpool sequel where Pitt cameos as the Vanisher.
There had been some expectations that production could begin before the end of the year.
Director David Leitch has landed yet another studio action project according to The Hollywood Reporter. The co-director of John Wick will return to the world of assassins with Bullet Train for Sony Pictures and they’re hoping to begin sometime in the fall.
They’ve also provided a brief idea of what to expect from the project. Its script is being handled by Fear Street screenwriter Zak Olkewicz.
Bullet Train centers on a group of hitmen and assassins with conflicting motives on a train in Tokyo.
Oddly enough, Bullet Train shares it’s title with an existing Japanese film from 1975 directed by Jun’ya Satô with legendary action stars Sonny Chiba (The Street Fighter, Kill Bill) and Ken Takakura (Black Rain, The Yakuza) in leading roles. I’m curious if the original film from Japan will have any influence on this new project.
Sony is hopeful because of the contained setting of the project (on a train) they’ll be able to limit the number of people on set during the filming.
David’s previous releases all have strong action sequences which has helped him gain the reputation of a solid action film director, thanks to his background in stunts.
At one point, Antoine Fuqua was attached to direct.
The director has been putting together multiple deals to make multiple films at various studios, but I’m unsure if he’ll be able to make all of them. Here is a rundown of the other various projects that David has been reportedly attached to direct over the last year or so.
A feature adaptation of the Ubisoft video game The Division for Netflix with Jessica Chastain and Jake Gyllenhaal attached to star.
A remake of the classic Bruce Lee martial arts action film Enter The Dragon for Warner Bros. Pictures.
Undying Love, a vampire action film set in Hong Kong and based on the Image Comics property.
A feature film remake of the classic David Carradine series Kung Fu.
Leitch is also producing a string of upcoming releases such as the Universal action flick Nobody starring Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) coming to theaters on February 26th, 2021, the Toyko-set Netflix assassin film Kate starring Elizabeth Winstead (Birds of Prey), and the recently announced memory loss thriller for STX titled Fast & Loose.
While sequels to Hobbs & Shaw, Atomic Blonde, and Deadpool 2 are said to be in early development stages. It remains to be seen if David will return to direct those projects.
THE RONIN 