Brad Pitt boards David Leitch's 'Bullet Train', to start filming later this year

Hollywood star Brad Pitt is set to feature in the big screen adaptation of "Bullet Train", based on the Japanese novel "Maria Beetle" by Isaka Kotaro. The film will be helmed by David Leitch, known for blockbuster actioners like "Deadpool 2" and "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. 

In the novel, five assassins find themselves on a fast-moving bullet train from Tokyo to Morioka with only a few stops in between. They discover their missions are related to one another. The question they face is: "who will make it off the train alive and what awaits them at the terminal station?"

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Antoine Fuqua, who originally developed the project for Sony Pictures, will produce the project. Screenwriter Zak Olkewicz has adapted the book. Kat Samick from Fuqua Films is also attached to produce along with Leitch and Kelly McCormick through their banner 87North. Brittany Morrissey will executive produce the film for Sony Pictures.

Pitt was last seen in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood", directed by Quentin Tarantino, for which he won his career-first acting Oscar. The makers are hoping to start production later this year.