Even if Sony’s Bullet Train has slowed down, it’s still going well at the box office. Brad Pitt and David Leitch’s action picture has earned over $200 million worldwide, well above its original $90 million production budget. The film’s domestic total is now just over $92 million thanks to a $3.2 million weekend. Overseas earnings for Bullet Train are a little over $109 million, bringing it’s total worldwide gross to $202 million. The film, which premiered in August, is based on the 2010 novel Maria Beetle by Japanese novelist Ktar Isaka and stars Brad Pitt as an assassin dubbed Ladybug who faces off against the most “lethal foes from throughout the world” aboard the world’s fastest train in modern-day Japan.
The cast also includes Bad Bunny, Michael Shannon, Brian Tyree Henry, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Leitch’s hallmark approach is marked by slickly choreographed action and extended takes, and in his very brief directing career, he has become one of the hottest action directors around. With the first John Wick film, which he directed alongside Chad Stahelski, he shot to prominence. To add to his resume, Leitch directed the $760 million grossing Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw and the $785 million grossing Deadpool 2. The fact that he formerly served as Pitt’s stunt double is only a bonus. Bullet Train is Pitt’s first significant box office play since 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which starred Pitt with Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, and Quentin Tarantino, and generated $374 million worldwide.
Ad Astra, a science fiction picture directed by James Gray and starring Pitt, grossed $135 million worldwide and was Pitt’s last role of significance. This year’s The Lost City, in which Pitt had a lengthy appearance, grossed $190 million after its theatrical run. In comparison, Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith generated nearly $480 million at the worldwide box office back in 2005. While some have found fault with Bullet Train, Ross Bonaime thought it provided some fun, silly thrills. Reviewing the picture, he said, “It’s intentionally ludicrous, and it has lots of fun with the outrageous lengths it can go.” The United Kingdom continues to be the film’s most lucrative overseas market. where it has grossed almost $10 million. Over $9 million in Mexico, $7 million in Australia, and approximately $6 million in France have been made off of Bullet Train.