Bullet Train Footage Description at CinemaCon 2022: Brad Pitt Fights Assassins

David Leitch is one of the top directors of Hollywood action films with credits including John Wick, Nobody, Hobbs and Shaw, Deadpool 2 and Atomic Blonde. The next film on his list is Bullet Train, which is based on the Kōtarō Isaka novel of the same name (it’s Maria Beetle in Japanese). During CinemaCon 2022, the director came down to the Vegas convention and presented a sneak peek at the Colosseum auditorium filled with theater owners, managers and media.

The book is set in Japan and has predominantly Japanese characters. For the film, it is still set in Japan, but the leads are portrayed by predominantly non-Asian actors with Brad Pitt as Ladybug, Sandra Bullock as Maria Beetle, Brian Tyree Henry as Lemon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Tangerine, Joey King as Prince, and more. There are Japanese actors and actors of Japanese descent in the film including Andrew Koji (Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins), Hiroyuki Sanada (Avengers: Endgame, The Last Samurai), Karen Fukuhara (Amazo’s The Boys) and Masi Oka (NBC’s Heroes), but they are supporting characters.

Footage Description

The scene opens with Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” with a wide shot of Tokyo. The shots then go up close to the streets with Brad Pitt’s character walking and enjoying life. It’s short-lived when he gets a call from Maria Beetle, who wants him to do a job. She then gives him the codename of Ladybug, despite his hesitation.

Ladybug informs Maria that the Japanese people are considerate, however, Andrew Koji’s character bumps into him, and Ladybug quickly corrects himself by mentioning that the guy wasn’t considerate. Koji’s character is looking for something.

Ladybug gets ready for the mission and heads to a locker, which has an assortment of weapons including firecrackers and guns. He takes some of the items and almost brings the gun with him but decides against it.

Masi Oka makes an appearance as a train employee and allows Koji’s character in the Bullet Train. Later, Ladybug is seen rushing into the train.

The scene then switches to two characters named Lemon and Tangerine, who are played by Brian Tyree Henry and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, respectively. They are sitting inside the bullet train and are joking about their names, including changing them to apple and orange.

Koji sees a little girl, played by Joey King (The Conjuring), but he is tased by her and is knocked out.

Ladybug is looking for a suitcase, and he’s surprised that he found it so fast inside one of the Bullet Train’s compartments.

Lemon and Tangerine move over to seats near their target, who is the son of a powerful man. Lemon brings out a sticker sheet from Thomas the Engine and describes the many friends of Thomas and their personalities including Percy the green tank engine. He’s comparing them to the son.

Lemon and Tangerine then argue about how many enemies they killed in one of their missions, and it breaks the fourth wall. It’s a violent and comedic segment that’s reminiscent of Legolas and Gimli counting how many orcs they have killed in The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. It turns out there was an extra kill, but it was unintentional when a good samaritan gets killed in an explosion trying to help out someone stuck inside a car.

As it turns out, both Lemon and Tangerine were in charge of looking after the briefcase, but it has been taken by Ladybug. Their target’s dad talks to them over the phone and asks, “Do you have my dead son and the briefcase?”

Ladybug is about to leave the bullet train with the briefcase, but he is blocked by a Spanish-speaking individual, played by Bad Bunny. (he’ll be playing El Muerte, a Marvel character who will get his own movie.) The mysterious assassin stabs Ladybug, but he is saved by his phone. The fight ensues, but it’s clear that Ladybug doesn’t want to fight by saying, “Dude, I don’t even know you.” He gets thrown around as he refuses to fight. The sneak peek ends here and really sets the tone of the film with its comedy and action.

Bullet Train looks to be a fun ride with crazy fight scenes and a train filled with assassins. It’s expected to hit theaters on July 29, 2022.