Bullet Train Star Says Film Was “Vicious Action Piece,” But Got “Hammed Up”

The trailer for Sony Pictures’ Bullet Train was released at the beginning of the month, and it got filmgoers excited to see the latest entry from Deadpool 2 and Atomic Blonde director, David Leitch. The movie has since been pushed back until July, taking over the release date that originally belonged to Black Adam. Sony describes the original movie event as “a fun, delirious action-thriller” with Academy Award-winner Brad Pitt “headlining 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.” The movie will also feature Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven the Hunter, Avengers: Age of Ultron) who recently shared with HERO Magazine in a conversation with Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s Andrew Garfield that Bullet Train went through some major changes during production, and it sounds like they were for the better.

“Originally, this thing was quite a dark, R-rated, vicious action piece, but we hammed it up and made it fun,” Taylor-Johnson explained. “I don’t know what happened, but it became a comedy! We all just had a laugh. David was really open to playing and exploring; it felt like a big breath of fresh air – we had a fantastic time.”

In addition to Pitt and Taylor-Johnson, Bullet Train will also feature Sandra Bullock (The Lost City), Joey King (The Kissing Booth), Brian Tyree Henry (Marvel’s Eternals), Andrew Koji (Fast & Furious 6), Hiroyuki Sanada (Mortal Kombat), Michael Shannon (Man of Steel), and Benito A Martínez Ocasio/Bad Bunny (F9: The Fast Saga). 

“Brad did 95 percent of his physical stunts — the fighting,” Greg Rementer, the film’s second-unit director and stunt coordinator recently told Vulture. “He’s like a natural-born athlete. He really got in there!….Never have I ever done so many huge actors in one feature where all of them excelled at the physical movement of our training. So Brad, Brian, Michael Shannon, Hiroyuki Sonada, Andrew Koji — who was already a stud in terms of where he comes from with the show ‘Warrior’ — all these actors put out some great action and did a lot of their [own] stuff.”

Footage from the film is reportedly the reason that Taylor-Johnson was cast in Sony’s Kraven the Hunter movie.

“We were fortunate to be shooting in LA during a time when artists were ready to get back to work and having Brad on the project — hot off an Oscar win and having a great script by Zak Olkewicz — really did attract the best people,” Leitch explained. “We were able to get people back to work safely during a pandemic, which is pretty amazing.”

Bullet Train is playing exclusively in movie theaters on July 29.