Brad Pitt is having a blast on the big screen right now. After winning an Oscar for his role in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, the mega-star actor is now cutting loose in blockbuster territory. From Wednesday, you can see his small but hilarious role in action-adventure rom-com The Lost City – and after that, he’s all aboard David Leitch’s Bullet Train. The latest film from the co-director of John Wick (and also behind Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, and Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw) is an all-guns-blazing summer movie about a Japanese bullet train full of assassins. At the centre is Pitt’s Ladybug – but for all the A-lister’s undeniable, unassailable cool, this isn’t the sort of calm and collected character you might be imagining.
Ladybug is “someone who’s pondering their place in the world,” Leitch tells Empire in the latest issue. “He’s having an existential crisis as all of these horrific things are happening around them. It makes him really relatable.” With the film’s trailer teasing a playful, goofy performance from Pitt (along with all the hard-hitting action beats you expect), the director is clear that that’s where the film’s tone lies too. “You hear the title Bullet Train and you think, ‘Hard-boiled action’,” he says. “But really it’s a deliriously fun, heightened, comedic action thriller.”
When it comes to the action, it’s not just about bringing the pain – it’s about bringing a lightness to it too. A key influence on the conflict was classic Jackie Chan fight scenes. “[There’s] a little bit of physical comedy,” Leitch explains. “The fights are designed to enhance the characters. We’re here to have fun in this super-contained space.” Bring on the carriage-confined carnage.
Read Empire’s full Bullet Train story, talking to Leitch about his colourful and chaotic new action-thriller in the Jurassic World Dominion issue – on sale Thursday 14 April, and available to pre-order online here. Bullet Train pulls into UK platforms (or, cinemas) from 29 July.