Brad Pitt Is Re-Teaming With Deadpool 2 Director For A Badass Action Movie

Brad Pitt in Deadpool 2

Back in 2018, fans were delighted to see Brad Pitt's crazy brief cameo in Deadpool 2 – playing an invisible character who only becomes visible during his quick death – but what most probably don't know is that the project marked the latest collaboration in a long history between Pitt and director David Leitch. The latter worked as a stunt double for the former for years, and now their working relationship is set to hit another level as the actor is now attached to star in the filmmaker's next project.

Late last month we learned that David Leitch has signed on to direct a new action film titled Bullet Train, an adaptation of the Japanese novel "Maria Beetle" by Kotaro Isaka, and now The Hollywood Reporter is saying that the project has found its lead actor in Brad Pitt.

Pitt – who was recently seen taking the stage at the Academy Awards to accept the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor – will be playing a hitman named Ladybug. He will be one of many killers who find themselves traveling together on a bullet train in Tokyo, with each of them possessing different motives and agendas (presumably some of them conflicting).

Zak Olkewicz, who worked as a co-producer on the horror movie Lights Out, and is penning the script for the upcoming R.L. Stine adaptation Fear Street, is handling script duties, though the trade notes that David Leitch is overseeing the revisions.

Leitch first worked with Brad Pitt back in the late 1990s, their first collaboration being David Fincher's cult classic Fight Club, and their shared resume includes titles like Spy Game, The Mexican, Mr. And Mrs. Smith, Ocean's 11 and Troy. It's somewhat poetic that the actor would pursue a new collaboration with his former stunt double now given that he just played an ever-loyal stunt double in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (a performance that earned him his aforementioned Oscar).

Bullet Train is looking to come together quickly, with production being planned to start in the second half of this year – and while that may seem like a risky idea given everything that's happening presently in the world, there is a belief that the basic set-up of the film will allow everything to work without severe risk or difficulty. The trade report notes that the movie being a contained thriller will allow the production to have strong control over the environment in which its shot and make it safe for everyone involved.

With this project coming together quickly, it's likely that more casting news will be coming in soon, so stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for the latest updates about Bullet Train, and hit the comments section with your expectations for the project!

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.