Bullet Train is a 2022 American action comedy film directed by David Leitch from a screenplay by Zak Olkewicz, and produced by Antoine Fuqua, who initially conceived the film. It is based on the 2010 novel Maria Beetle by Kōtarō Isaka. The film stars Brad Pitt as a former assassin who must battle fellow killers while riding a fictionalized version of the Tokaido Shinkansen. In addition to Pitt, the film also stars Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Benito A. Martínez Ocasio, and Sandra Bullock.
In Tokyo, grieving father Yuichi Kimura seeks revenge after an unknown assailant pushes his son off a rooftop. Meanwhile, former assassin "Ladybug" is assigned to retrieve a briefcase from a bullet train bound for Kyoto. Also on the train are Yuichi, the young woman called "Prince" who attacked his son, two assassin brothers called "Lemon" and "Tangerine" assigned to escort the briefcase, and the son of a Russian-born Yakuza boss known as the "White Death".
Ladybug retrieves the briefcase, but is attacked by another assassin called "Wolf", who blames Ladybug for poisoning his entire wedding party. Wolf's knife attack backfires and results in his own death. Ladybug stashes the briefcase. Meanwhile, the Prince reveals to Yuichi that she pushed his son off the roof to lure him to the train as part of an elaborate plan to assassinate the White Death.
While Lemon and Tangerine search for the missing briefcase, the White Death's son is murdered in the same way as the Wolf's wedding guests. Ladybug offers the briefcase to Lemon in return for getting off the train, leading to a fight in which Lemon is knocked unconscious. The Prince and Yuichi find the briefcase and booby-trap it with explosives to kill the White Death. Ladybug encounters Tangerine and kicks him off the train, but Tangerine manages to climb back aboard.
A suspicious Lemon shoots and injures Yuichi, but collapses after drinking from a water bottle Ladybug had earlier spiked with a sleeping drug. The Prince shoots Lemon and stashes him and Yuichi in a bathroom. Ladybug encounters yet another assassin - "Hornet", who poisoned the White Death's son and the Wolf's wedding party with boomslang venom. After a struggle, Ladybug injects Hornet with her own poison, then he uses her antivenom on himself, causing her death.
Tangerine runs into the Prince, but Ladybug attacks before he can shoot her, killing Tangerine with his own gun. Believing the Prince to be innocent, Ladybug agrees to protect her. Meanwhile, Yuichi's father Kimura boards the train and reveals that the Prince is lying. After she flees, Kimura tells Ladybug that he is seeking revenge against the White Death, who killed his wife while taking over the Yakuza. They discover that Yuichi and Lemon are still alive, and the four work together to face the White Death.
At Kyoto, Ladybug gives the briefcase to the White Death. The Prince, revealed to be the White Death's estranged daughter, tries to goad him into shooting her with Yuichi's gun she earlier rigged to explode, but she fails. White Death explains that every assassin on the train was responsible in some way for the death of his wife (except Ladybug, who was filling in for another operative), and that he hired them all in the hopes they would kill each other.
The White Death's henchman open the trapped briefcase, which explodes, knocking Ladybug back onto the train. The White Death and his remaining henchmen board and battle the assassins. Their fight causes the train to hurtle out of control and crash into downtown Kyoto. Emerging from the wreck, the White Death tries to shoot Ladybug but is killed by the exploding gun. The Prince threatens Ladybug, Yuichi and Kimura with a machine gun, but is struck and killed by a truck driven by Lemon. Ladybug's handler Maria arrives to retrieve him as he celebrates finally getting off the bullet train.
Casting
- Brad Pitt as "Ladybug", a seasoned but unlucky American mercenary.
- Joey King as "The Prince", a mercenary posing as a British schoolgirl.
- Aaron Taylor-Johnson as "Tangerine", a British assassin and Lemon's brother.
- Miles Marz as young Tangerine
- Brian Tyree Henry as "Lemon", a British assassin and Tangerine's brother with a love for Thomas the Tank Engine.
- Joshua Johnson-Payne as young Lemon
- Andrew Koji as Yuichi Kimura / "The Father", a Japanese member of White Death's organization.
- Parker Lin as young Kimura
- Hiroyuki Sanada as "The Elder", a former Yakuza and Kimura's father.
- Yoshi Sudarso as young Elder
- Michael Shannon as "White Death", the Russian leader of a Japanese criminal organization.
- Benito A. Martínez Ocasio (Bad Bunny) as "The Wolf", a Mexican assassin.
- Ian Martinez as young Wolf
- Sandra Bullock as Maria Beetle, Ladybug's contact and handler.
- Zazie Beetz as "The Hornet", an American assassin who specializes in poisons.
- Logan Lerman as "The Son", White Death's son.
- Masi Oka as the Train Conductor
- Karen Fukuhara as a Train Concession Girl
- Pasha D. Lychnikoff as Alexei Ilyin
- Channing Tatum (uncredited) as a train passenger
- Ryan Reynolds (uncredited) as Carver, an assassin whose job is being filled in by Ladybug.
- David Leitch as Jeff Zufelt, the 17th person killed earlier by Lemon and Tangerine
Bullet Train had been initially developed by Antoine Fuqua —who co-produced the film— through his Fuqua Films banner. It was originally intended to be a serious action thriller in the vein of Die Hard (1988), but the project turned into a light-hearted action comedy during the development process.
It was announced in June 2020 that Sony Pictures had hired David Leitch to direct the adaptation of the Kōtarō Isaka novel from a screenplay by Zak Olkewicz, with Brad Pitt being cast in the film the following month. Joey King subsequently entered negotiations for a supporting role, while in September, Andrew Koji was added, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry joining in October. In November 2020, Zazie Beetz, Masi Oka, Michael Shannon, Logan Lerman, and Hiroyuki Sanada joined the cast, with Leitch revealing in December that Karen Fukuhara had also joined, and that Jonathan Sela would serve as cinematographer. That same month, Bad Bunny (credited as his real name, Benito A Martínez Ocasio) was also added to the cast, and Sandra Bullock joined the following year in February to replace Lady Gaga, who had dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with House of Gucci (2021).
Production for Bullet Train began in October 2020 in Los Angeles, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming started on November 16, 2020, and wrapped in March 2021. The producers constructed 3 full train cars, and LED screens with video footage of the Japanese countryside were hung outside the windows of the train set to help immerse the actors. Stunt coordinator Greg Rementer said Pitt performed 95 percent of his own stunts in the film. Variety.com reported that Pitt was paid $20 million.
