David Leitch’s road to film direction is quite interesting as he immaculately brought his career to a new height. The action director has been a long-time stunt double of Brad Pitt and eventually starred Pitt in his own action film.
Pitt needs no introduction as he has been a household name even beyond the cinematic domain while occupying a spot in popular culture. But Leitch’s journey tells a different tale, and being Pitt’s stunt double to his director was something to cherish. However, it was not always easy, Pitt had a hard time grasping the change.
David Leitch Explained Directing Brad Pitt
David Leitch was aware of the situation before directing Brad Pitt. They had a very different relationship up until the filming of the 2022 movie, Bullet Train. “There were small growing pains,” Leitch told THR about directing Pitt. However, the difficulties eventually faded when the actor tamed his growing pain alongside the director, but “it was actually pretty quick.”
“He’s such a gracious collaborator, and we did have this history of four or five movies together and literally three years of our lives on sets where we’d built the dynamic of helping him create a character. So it was really beautiful to come back together when he’s at the height of his career and the height of his character-making, and sculpt a character that’s supporting my movie. That was just a really beautiful, humbling experience.”
Leitch further revealed that Pitt has been graciously following his career after they parted ways from the actor-stunt double relationship. Later, the director started to move “into second unit directing and directing.” When he called Pitt for Bullet Train, he was excited and appreciated the director for his prowess in filmmaking while nodding for the collaboration.
David Leitch’s Star-Studded Cast In Bullet Train Had A Specific Purpose
Pitt, one of the greatest and most popular actors of the generation, joined Leitch’s action action comedy with several other prominent stars in the roster. The movie also stars Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Benito A. Martínez Ocasio, Sandra Bullock, and co. Although the classic Pitt-like actor is rare, the ensemble in the film has a greater purpose as the director was indirectly aiming to compete with superhero movies.
“I’m not sure you can ever replace the golden age of the movie star — and maybe we’ll come back to it — but this era of superhero movies and the characters and the suits have become just as powerful as the actors playing them, to audiences. So that’s a really insightful thing. Stacking the deck with great actors that have a presence is a way to draw the audience to the cinema at this time, with the expectation of a big summer movie. I’ve never really thought of it that way, but it’s a really interesting take on it,” Leitch told THR.
Of course, superhero movies tend to have big names on the roster, and it is very hard to compete with those movies with huge backing. Still, Leitch’s attempt and insight were exciting. Bullet Train went on to earn $239.3 million worldwide against the production budget of $85.9–90 million.
Bullet Train is available to stream on Netflix.
