In Bullet Train, Brad Pitt stars as Ladybug, an unlucky assassin determined to do his job peacefully after one too many gigs gone off the rails. Fate, however, may have other plans, as Ladybug’s latest mission puts him on a collision course with lethal adversaries from around the globe—all with connected, yet conflicting, objectives—on the world’s fastest train. The end of the line is just the beginning in this non-stop thrill-ride through modern-day Japan from David Leitch, the director of Deadpool 2.
Columbia Pictures presents an 87North production, a film by David Leitch, Bullet Train. Starring Brad Pitt, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Benito A Martínez Ocasio, and Sandra Bullock. Directed by David Leitch. Produced by Kelly McCormick, David Leitch, and Antoine Fuqua. Screenplay by Zak Olkewicz. Based on the book by Kotaro Isaka. Executive producers are Brent O’Connor, Ryosuke Saegusa, Yuma Terada, and Kat Samick. Director of Photography is Jonathan Sela. Production Designer is David Scheunemann. Edited by Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir ACE. Costume Designer is Sarah Evelyn. Music by Dominic Lewis. Music Supervision by Season Kent.
“Ladybug is going through an existential crisis,” says Brad Pitt, who stars as an assassin just trying to do his job peacefully in the comedic action thriller Bullet Train. “Too many of his recent jobs have gone sideways and he’s starting to think that the one thing all of those jobs have had in common is him. He thinks he’s brought bad luck to every aspect of his life – it’s affected his work, and he’s trying to find a way to turn it around through peaceful resolution.”
For director David Leitch, who previously brought style and flair to such movies as Deadpool 2, the chance to direct a movie that was unlike any other presented an unmissable opportunity. “I was attracted to how bold and original it is, and that’s the kind of movie I like to make,” he says. “It has a tone of relentless fun and snappy dialogue. But the most important thing to me was that it had well-defined characters that gave the actors a lot to chew on. It’s a fun action-thriller with crazy, bombastic characters – and it’s a meditation on fate. Really.”
Bullet Train brings together seven characters, all with connected, conflicting, and at times, confusing objectives. “Fate brings these people onto this train, and their energies combine in the craziest, most gonzo way possible,” says producer Kelly McCormick, who is Leitch’s partner both professionally as a producer and in life as his wife. “It was important to David to make a film that would invest you emotionally. When he saw his opportunity to do that, with these characters, he was all in.”
“All of these characters show their humanity,” says Leitch. “Ladybug wants to be a better person. But you also see it in the characters played by Brian Tyree Henry and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in their brotherhood – they clearly care for each other. Joey King’s character is a sociopath, but she has a dynamic with her father that we can all connect with. You can go on this journey with these remorseless killers and still feel for them, have fun, laugh at the jokes.”
That makes it a movie that fits squarely into Leitch’s vision as a director. “It’s hard these days to strike out and make an original movie – not a sequel or a superhero story – but we’re up for the challenge,” Leitch continues. Through his company 87North, Leitch is seeking to bring his own personal stamp to action movies and the way action is portrayed. Having entered the business as a stuntman, and rising to become a stunts supervisor and choreographer before staking a groundbreaking directorial style with the films Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, and John Wick, Leitch says that there are boundless opportunities to stretch the action genre. “There’s action in comedy, there’s action in thrillers, there’s action in horror,” he says. “My entire adult life has been action on film. Action is in my DNA. So I’m excited by the idea of taking big, provocative swings and making bold choices, as we keep it action-adjacent.”
Leitch had gained Pitt’s trust by serving as his stunt double on several of the actor’s classics – Fight Club, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Troy, and more – before making his mark as a director. Pitt knew he’d be in safe hands. “It was a little funny to me, watching Brad play a stuntman in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. I can tell you that the relationship between actor and stuntman that was part of that movie is real,” says Leitch. “You develop a close and collaborative relationship. We went in different directions for a while, but fate wasn’t done with us, and I’m so glad it’s brought us back together.”
Bullet Train is based on the book by Kotaro Isaka, one of Japan’s most popular and acclaimed novelists. Two of the film’s executive producers, Yuma Terada and Ryosuke Saegusa, are co-founders of the Tokyo- and New York-based production company and literary agency CTB, which brings contemporary Japanese storytelling to Hollywood. They supported the idea to adapt Bullet Train as a global, international story.
“It was so exciting to watch the stellar cast bring such energy and passion to this story,” says Isaka, the author of the book. “This unique vision of Japan is utterly surprising and so much fun – it made me very happy to see it, and I know audiences will feel the same way.”
For screenwriter Zak Olkewicz, who adapts the novel, bringing out the theme of fate was an important part of the adaptation. “I really responded to that,” he says. “Ladybug views his bad luck as a curse, but it’s actually a catalyst of good luck for other people.”
In fact, it’s Ladybug’s bad luck that has made him an expert in his field. “Something does always seem to go wrong in the craziest ways, and he has to react on the fly, which ultimately makes him very effective,” says Olkewicz. “The irony is that because he’s able to react when something goes awry, Ladybug is better than everybody else on the train.”
Creating meaningful arcs for seven characters was one thing. Just keeping track of where each of them are on the train was another. “At one point, my whiteboard looked like I was tracking a serial killer,” recalls Olkewicz with a laugh. “There were so many lines of string denoting everyone’s movements on the train at any given time. It was the only way to ensure everyone knew where people were.”
To create the adventure, Leitch’s design team created a heighted reality inside and outside the train. “Part of the fun was creating the environments that we wanted to be in,” says Leitch. “A lounge car, a quiet car, a Momomon car… We were driven by the idea that these were all places where we could do something different, but as it turns out, all of this research led to special discoveries that led not only to bold design choices, but character and plot. It’s more than just a place to walk through. They’re little journeys, little miracles.”
To create Bullet Train’s unique vision of Japan as seen through the train’s windows, the team started by capturing the Japanese countryside between Tokyo and Kyoto. With this high-definition footage in hand, Leitch’s design team built each of the cars of the train – the quiet car, the café car, the themed Momomon car – on soundstages, projecting Japan outside the train windows on LED screens. “Normally, you’d do this through visual effects. You’d put up a blue screen and comp the plates in later,” Leitch explains. “With the LED screens hung along a hundred meters of train, we could shoot the train journey in-camera while we were on the train. It’s called virtual production and I think it was a huge benefit to the actors and their performances.”
Of course, in the movie, it’s meant to be a stylized version of Japan. When you see the movie, expect something different. “This is Bullet Train world,” says Leitch. “We’re making a modern fable about fate, so it’s fitting to immerse you in a story where you escape to that world. It’s filled with wish fulfillment and heightened characters. We defy physics.”
L A D Y B U G
Ladybug is an intuitive and skilled but burnt-out operative whose string of bad luck has taken its toll on him. Cajoled into taking what sounds like an easy pick-up job, he unwittingly stumbles into a vipers nest of the most notorious elite assassins in the game.
“You may think Brad Pitt and not necessarily think comedy, but he’s a very smart comedic actor who makes great choices with his physicality and delivery,” says Leitch. “More importantly, Brad plays Ladybug in a way where you do care about him. He thinks he’s unlucky, but really his luck pays itself forward and proves to be good luck that rubs off on everybody else.”
“Before Brad signed on, we were wondering, well, who could play Ladybug?” laughs McCormick. “It’s such an interesting, unique, complex character, with an unconventional arc.”
When Pitt came on board the project, he helped define the character he would bring to life. “He’s so great with character,” says Leitch. “He had some brilliant revelations about what he wanted to bring to the character.”
“The bucket hat was a stroke of genius by Brad,” says McCormick. “He’s arguably the biggest, most charismatic star in the world. People expect his stardom, his charm to radiate. Instead, he’s hiding it in this goofy hat and glasses to become this vulnerable guy. He plays him as the underdog – Brad Pitt is the underdog of the movie in a lot of ways.”
T A N G E R I N E AND L E M O N
The Twins, Tangerine and Lemon, aren’t actually twins. (No kiddin’.) In fact, though they are seemingly a disparate pair, they are lifelong brothers in arms. Tangerine is a Savile Row-suited killer with slicked back hair and flashy gold jewelry – not exactly subtle. Lemon, meanwhile, possesses a guileless demeanor and moral compass that he has honed entirely from the lessons from “Thomas the Tank Engine” – but he is nevertheless just as talented a hitman as his twin.
Leitch knew that finding actors who could portray this close relationship was the key to making it work. “The energy and chemistry between Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry was immediate,” says Leitch.
Taylor-Johnson and Henry agree – and say that their offscreen chemistry drove the onscreen relationship (and vice versa). “Tangerine and Lemon go hand in hand and really rely on each other,” says Taylor-Johnson. “There’s a love between them, a deeply rooted partnership that goes back years and years. That kind of bond needs to be supported by an instant connection and chemistry for us both, and Brian brought the energy, fire, and passion every day. I fed off of his energy, bounced off of his enthusiasm and his charisma. He’s one of the best actors around, without a doubt.”
Henry, well-known for his roles in The Eternals and “Atlanta,” says he was able to tap into the fun odd-couple nature of their characters’ pairing. “Lemon is incredibly genuine. He is the most genuine, childlike, joyous psychopath you’ll ever meet in your life,” Henry says. “He enters a room and you can’t miss him, but at the same time, he has a real ease about him. That’s why pairing him with Aaron’s Tangerine is so perfect. Tangerine is crazy, and there’s a finesse that Aaron has when he steps into the role. He’s that fine wine of sociopaths. The two of us together is so eclectic and fun and we’re just the oddest pairing, but at the same time, it works so well.”
“I don’t know if Tangerine is a psychopath, a sociopath, just a psychotic nutcase, or a combination of all three,” says Taylor-Johnson. “Tangerine and Lemon are funny because they’re hyper-charismatic. Also, the circumstances are so ludicrous – they’re trained assassins and extremely dangerous, but they’ve lost their marbles a little bit. But what makes them truly funny is the way they bicker like husband and wife. Even whilst they’re tying someone up… or chopping someone up.”
Henry adopts a British accent to match his character’s brother’s. “It’s a true honor to be able to speak the King’s English,” he says. “It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, I worked hard at it, and I had a great dialect coach. working hard, like we got a great dialect coach. One of the great things is that every single person is flipping these characters on their head. Brad playing the crazy, weird, unlucky assassin. Joey King playing like an upper-class society girl who can turn into a cold-blooded killer in a minute. Everybody in this movie is playing the complete antithesis of who they really are in real life. Except Aaron.”
T H E P R I N C E
For Tangerine and Lemon, killing is all business. For The Prince, a young woman on the train played by Joey King, it’s pleasure. Knowing that others will judge her by her appearance, she makes full use of those misconceptions. “She knows that she’s underestimated and she also knows that’s an advantage,” says King. “She uses her sweet looks and her tender voice to get what she wants – and she knows exactly what she wants,” says King. “She masks her true desires with fierce cruelty and these menacing, torturous tendencies. Ultimately, she seeks love and respect – it’s interesting, the people who she loves the most, she also fears and hates the most.”
Leitch says that the actress – who goes from “The Princess” (her new Hulu series, which is receiving rave reviews) to The Prince with Bullet Train – brought a surprising depth to the character. “Joey King’s first reading with us was emotional and satirical in a way we weren’t expecting,” says Leitch.
That take on the role is what distinguishes the Prince’s scenes with Kimura, played by Andrew Koji. “Prince could not be more excited that Kimura’s life is falling apart,” she says. “That’s why it’s so interesting to play a character like this. I got to play around with emotions in a way I’ve never done before, and it was really quite fun. Our scenes together vary so much – from brutal, heartbreaking stuff to being absolutely hilarious, and everything in between.”
K I M U R A
Before he boarded the Shinkansen, Kimura, a low-level Tokyo criminal, hit rock bottom. An alcoholic in a perpetual haze, he boards the train ready to exact his revenge on the unknown culprit who attacked his son and ultimately redeem himself and restore honor to his family name.
Japanese-British actor/martial artist Andrew Koji plays the role. For Koji, the complexity of the character and the film’s relatable themes of luck and family resonated. “I’ve never seen a character like Kimura before, let alone in a big Hollywood film like Bullet Train. From the moment you first see him, you know he’s a man in crisis, made worse by the disapproval of his father. He’s a decisive moment that incites the whole film and his storyline.”
“This film is about luck, and like Ladybug, I think Kimura’s always felt unlucky his whole life,” Koji continues. “When you have a victim mentality, you attract that kind of energy. But he’ll have a moment when his luck turns around.”
“Andrew’s character is the heartbeat of the movie,” says Leitch. “It’s definitely Ladybug’s story, but the emotional center – and the most complex relationship in the movie – is the relationship between Kimura and The Elder.”
As Kimura’s stoic, unyielding father, known as the Elder, Hiroyuki Sanada takes on the multi-layered character of the modest florist who is fiercely protective of his family. Even as Kimura loses himself in a bottle and feels the enormous shame he’s brought to his family, the Elder knows his son is a survivor. “Getting the role was a dream, but then I find out that Hiroyuki Sanada is playing my dad,” says Koji. “This whole experience has been a bit surreal. I never saw my path ever crossing with Hiroyuki Sanada.”
When the Elder, worried about Kimura, boards the train, he shares some sage wisdom with Ladybug. “He explains the lore of Tentou-mushi – Japanese for ladybug,” says Olkewicz. “The explanation is that there is a spot on its back for each of the seven sorrows of the world of mankind. Tentou-mushi isn’t lucky – it holds all the bad luck, so others may live in peace with good luck. That, to me, is such a beautiful moment – a discussion of acceptance of your place in the world.”
T H E H O R N E T
ZAZIE BEETZ (Deadpool 2, “Atlanta”) is the Hornet, the fourth assassin, a master of disguise who travels under the radar on every job she takes. Most of her victims don’t even realize she’s struck until they take their last breath.
“The whole movie is in this heightened space of cat and mouse,” says Beetz. “At the same time, it was fun really leaning into the caricatures and absurdities of playing a master assassin. I got to pop in and out of all these different looks and personas.”
Especially exciting for Beetz? The wigs. “I never wear wigs,” she says. “I’m so grateful that people love my hair and always want my hair to be natural in films, but honestly, sometimes, I want to do something else. In this movie, I’m in my full wig glory. It was really fun.”
T H E W O L F
Rounding out the cast of assassins is Benito A Martínez Ocasio, better known to millions of fans around the world as Bad Bunny. The award-winning artist plays The Wolf, an assassin with a beef and a score to settle against Ladybug.
“I thought for the longest time that the Wolf would be this grizzled old journeyman hitman who’s seen it all and is dangerous because he’s been around the block. Then Bad Bunny came in and changed all that,” says Leitch. “Mary Vernieu, our casting director, proposed Bad Bunny for the role, and we were excited by his work on ‘Narcos.’ His work ethic was off the charts – he spent the time on rehearsals to come in prepared, and we leaned into his passion. If you’ve ever seen him perform, you know that he does everything with so much heart. So instead of being revenge-driven, we made him lovesick. Having Bad Bunny play that part defined the humanity in that character.”
Leitch says that the emotion of the character comes through even when the Wolf and Ladybug are beating on each other. “The Wolf was madly in love, and lost the love of his life, but Ladybug has no idea what’s going on,” notes Leitch. “It’s a good example of how to use fight choreography to define character: Ladybug is confused, and even in his defensive moves, he’s trying to assess who this guy is and why this is happening, while Wolf has allowed an unbridled rage to overcome him over what he’s lost.”
