Thanks to his abilities to commit some beautiful and stylistic action sequences to celluloid in films such as Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2 and Fast & Furious spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw, director David Leitch is a man in demand when it comes to helming big-scale action sequences. And based on the evidence he has showcased thus far, I can’t blame studios for wanting to sign him up.
Now Deadline is reporting that Leitch has been signed on to direct and produce a new movie called Bullet Train which is to be based on the popular Japanese novel Maria Beetle by Isaka Kotaro. The book follows several members of the Japanese criminal underground who find themselves on the same bullet train from Tokyo to Morioka. A journey that in real life takes about 2-3 hours. During this journey, tension rises as they discover and come into conflict with one another. The plot details for the film adaptation itself have not been revealed as of yet, with Zak Olkewicz set to write the script.
The novel is actually part of a series and so it will be interesting if Sony Pictures will possibly look to expand it into several movies in future. While no English version for the novel exists currently (one is in development) the book is said to be quite a tense and action-packed affair – unsurprisingly considering it all takes place on a train – and I can think of few better directors than Leitch to adapt a story like this to film.
Leitch, who got his career started working as a stunt coordinator for the Matrix films before co-creating the John Wick franchise with Chad Stahelski, is currently working on the fourth Matrix movie as a stunt co-ordinator with Stahelski again before he will move on to this new project. Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer, Training Day) will also be involved in helping this move come together as a producer. It promises to be quite the action spectacle whenever it releases.
Last Updated: June 25, 2020
