Bullet Train Trivia | 70 facts about the movie

«Bullet Train» is a 2022 American action comedy film directed by David Leitch from a screenplay by Zak Olkewicz.

Let’s find out more about the movie!

1. Bullet Train is a 2022 American action comedy film.
2. It was directed by David Leitch from a screenplay by Zak Olkewicz.
3. It was produced by Antoine Fuqua, who initially conceived the film.
4. It is based on the 2010 novel Maria Beetle by Kōtarō Isaka.
5. The film stars Brad Pitt as a former assassin who must battle fellow killers while riding a fictionalized version of the Tokaido Shinkansen.
6. In addition to Pitt, the film stars an ensamble cast which also includes Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Bad Bunny, and Sandra Bullock.
7. Principal photography began in Los Angeles in November 2020.
8. It was wrapped in March 2021.
9. Bullet Train premiered in Paris on July 18, 2022.
10. It was theatrically released in the United States on August 5, 2022, by Sony Pictures Releasing.
11. The film has grossed $173 million worldwide on a production budget of about $90 million.
12. It received mixed reviews from critics.
13. Taking a Bullet Train from Tokyo to Kyoto will take you 2 hours and 8 minutes. That’s the exact runtime of this film.
14. Brad Pitt did 95% of his own stunts in this film according to stunt coordinator Greg Rementer.
15. Director David Leitch and Brad Pitt had a long working relationship before Bullet Train (2022). Leitch has worked as Pitt’s stunt double in multiple films including Fight Club (1999), Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Troy (2004) and Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005).
16. Brad Pitt also made a cameo in Leitch’s second directorial effort Deadpool 2 (2018).
17. Aaron Taylor-Johnson lost a chunk of his hand and passed out after doing a stunt.
18. Brad Pitt’s character says that he never forgets a face and struggles to remember who The Wolf is. In real life, Brad Pitt has “prosopagnosia”, a condition that impairs the ability to recognize familiar faces, including one’s own face. He has said in interviews that he needs to remember the context and the situation in which he has met someone in order to know who that person is, just as his character does.
19. Sandra Bullock replaced Lady Gaga in this movie.
20. Ryan Reynolds’ extremely short cameo as Carver was filmed remotely while he was on the set of his Netflix film The Adam Project. Producer Kelly McCormick humorously remarked that it was “payback for Brad being in ‘Deadpool 2’ for two seconds.”
21. The first trailer for Bullet Train featured Bee Gee’s song “Stayin’ Alive” in three languages: Japanese, Spanish, and English.
22. Prince is reading “Shibumi” by Rod Whitaker (aka Trevanian), a novel about a Russo-Japanese assassin who, among other things, kills his father.
23. Bullet Train is based on the Japanese novel “Maria Beetle” by Kôtarô Isaka, which was first published in 2010. The visibility from the film production lead to Harvill Secker’s acquisition of the novel’s English publishing rights, bringing Isaka’s work to English for the first time.
24. Sony executives reportedly reached out to Aaron Taylor-Johnson after being impressed by his scenes in Bullet Train, to star as the title character in Kraven the Hunter (2023).
25. The credited name for Bad Bunny’s character–Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio–is in his real name.
26. Joey King spent up to three hours a day perfecting her British accent for this movie.
27. The smart toilet was Brad Pitts idea brought up only the day before shooting the scene.
28. David Leitch had to drop out as director of The Division to work on the film.
29. While discussing Thomas the Tank Engine with Lemon, Tangerine briefly affects an accent similar to that of Beatles member Ringo Starr. Starr narrated the British television series “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends” from 1984-1986 and appeared as the first version of Mr. Conductor in the American spin-off series “Shining Time Station.”
30. The song “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” is sung by Briton Engelbert Humberdinck. Because the family of the German composer of the same name objected to his use as a stage name, the British singer appears in Germany only as Engelbert.
31. He is said to have inspired Elvis Presley to have sideburns and wear leather jackets.
32. In the end credits, the story is told from the point of view of the water bottle as a symbol of fate and how everything is connected. The same bottle has a cameo in another Pitt Bullock film, The Lost City.
33. When Lemon is talking about trains to The Son (played by Logan Lerman), he ascribes The Son as Percy the train. Logan Lerman is known for playing Percy Jackson.
34. The song “Power” is performed by the band “Siickbrain” x “Pussy Riot”. In the music video, the favourite movie of “Siickbrain” is replayed with women: Fight Club (with Brad Pitt). Part of the song is sung by Pussy Riot in Russian.
35. The song “Hero” is a dance version of “Holding Out For A Hero” by Bonnie Tyler. It is sung by Japanese musician Miki Asakura in Japanese.
36. The film has grossed $150 million worldwide on a production budget of about $90 million, and received mixed reviews from critics.
37. The song “Stayin’ Alive” by the “Bee Gees” is sung by Japanese singer Avu-chan of the group “Queen Bee”. Avu-chan produces in 2021 a song for the album “Ladybug” by Japanese singer LiSA in 2021 for her 10th music anniversary.
38. Tentomushi means ladybug in Japanese, but mu also means 6 and shi means 4, which together gives ten again (Ten-to-Mu-Shi). Ladybugs all over!
39. Joey King plays a martial artist/assassin named Prince. In the same year she played a martial artist princess in The Princess (2022).
40. Second film to feature Logan Lerman and Brad Pitt the first being Fury
41. This film has some similarities to Pulp Fiction (1994), like the dark humor tone, a character called “The Wolf” and, most notably a couple of thugs who are one black and the other white and talk about trivial subjects while performing criminal activities.
42. At one point Lemon refers to The Son (Logan Lerman) as Percy, a double entendre as Percy is both a train from the Thomas the Tank Engine show as well as the title character played by Lerman in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians franchise.
43. The original sixties world hit “Sukiyaki” was written by Japanese Rokuskue Ei in 1961 under the title “Ue o muite aruko” (meaning: Let’s go with our faces up.)
44. It was his response to his participation in student protests against the ongoing U.S. military domination in Japan after World War II. An Englishman bought the track on a visit to Japan and renamed it “Sukiyaki” after a Japanese stew easier to pronounce internationally.
45. A sister of the British Singer Engelbert Humperdinck, who performs the song in the movie, is called Bubbles.
46. Brad Pitt was in his late fifties when this was released.
47. The song is the club anthem of the English football club “West Ham United”. A sticker of this club is on Tangerine’s cell phone. That’s why the musical director Dominic Lewis chose the song.
48. Japan may be the most famous for its speeding trains, but the Shanghai Maglev Train routinely hits 268 mph with passengers on board.
49. The song “Kill Me Pretty” is played during The White Death’s biography flashback as a rattling rock song. Japanese rock superstar Tamio Okuda performs the song while playing his original 1956 Les Paul Gibson, a replica of which Gibbson issued in his honor and named it “Tamio Okuda 1959 Les Paul”.
50. David Leitch: Innocent victim #17 who gets blown up by the car.
51. The bullet train, or “Shinkansen”, is a type of passenger train which operates on Japan’s high-speed railway network. Capable of reaching a maximum speed of 320kms per hour, the bullet train offers riders an exceptionally unique and efficient travel experience.
52. The fruit truck Lemon drives at the end of the movie is the same truck that almost hits Ladybug at the start of the movie.
53. In the third act, David Leitch originally intended for the White Death to appear in a tailored suit, while Michael Shannon shot that idea down and suggested to him that he should wear loose fitting clothing as if to suggest the White Death has become so consumed with grief over the death of his wife and vengeance that he has worn the exact same clothes for two years, which Leitch instantly approved of.
54. The combination to the briefcase is 805, which is also the movie’s release date (August 5th)
55. The book that Channing Tatum’s character is reading appears to be one of Sandra Bullock’s character in The Lost City, Loretta Sage, books. Tatum starred alongside Sandra Bullock in The Lost City as her cover model, Alan.
56. Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum were all in The Lost City, which came out this same year (March 2022). Bullet Train went into production first and Tatum and Bullock enjoyed working with Pitt so much that they offered him a supporting role in their film.
57. Aside from a henchman, everyone that tries to kill Ladybug is killed with their own weapon. The White Death is rumored to kill everyone who comes after him with their own weapon.
58. Lemons and tangerines (the fruits) belong to the exact same genus, family, and clades as one another. This could mean that the characters, Lemon and Tangerine, are in fact related by blood. Although rare, there have been multiple real world accounts of mixed twins being born to interracial parents.
59. David Leitch, Brad Pitt, Zazie Beetz, and Ryan Reynolds were all involved with Deadpool 2 (2018).
60. In both this film and Mortal Kombat (2021), Hiroyuki Sanada plays a character who teams up with his descendent to confront the man who killed his wife.
61. Sandra Bullock plays a character named Maria Beetle as in the original title of the novel in Japanese, MariaBeetle.
62. Zazie Beetz, Brad Pitt, and Ryan Reynolds all appear in Deadpool 2 which also has a character that has extreme luck.
63. The nurse The Elder hired to protect his comatose grandson can be seen walking behind Prince’s assassin as he watches the boy in the hospital
64. Ladybug tells Maria on the phone that in 7 minutes he will be off the train. Exactly 7 minutes later he and Tangerine go off the train during their fight
65. Carver is played by Ryan Reynolds.
66. Brad Pitt, Channing Tatem, and Sandra Bullock were all in The Lost City as well as Bullet Train.
67. Bullet Train  had its world premiere at the Grand Rex in Paris, France on July 18, 2022.
68. 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
69. 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.
70. Variety.com reported that Pitt was paid $20 million for the movie.