Hold on to your bucket hats: Sony’s action-thriller “Bullet Train” has crossed the $100 million mark at the domestic box office.
It’s an impressive step into the post-COVID era for an original movie that doesn’t involve big-name comic book heroes or intergalactic adventures. It helps, of course, that a bankable actor like Brad Pitt is starring in the film, as a heavily therapist-heavy assassin named Ladybug.
On Friday, “Bullet Train” hit $101 million in domestic ticket sales, making it only the 14th release this year to hit that benchmark. With an additional $130 million at the international box office, the film has now grossed $231 million in worldwide ticket sales to date.
“Bullet Train” continues an encouraging streak at the box office for original films. In North America, it’s not just superheroes saving the day… and theaters. Director Baz Luhrmann’s musical biopic “Elvis” grossed $150 million, Jordan Peele’s sci-fi thriller “Nope” grossed $123 million, while Blumhouse chiller “The Black Phone” and adaptation Sony’s literary “Where the Crawdads Sing” each raised $89 million. — impressive tallies given that these films all came out at the height of the summer blockbuster season.
In terms of more recent deals, “The Woman King” starring Viola Davis ($41m to date) and director Olivia Wilde’s “Don’t Worry Darling” ($27m to date) have also registered. better than expected ticket sales.
“Bullet Train” opened to $30 million in early August and was the No. 1 movie in the country for two consecutive weeks. Despite mixed reviews, the film stayed in the top five on the box office charts for seven weeks, enjoying a month without too many high-profile releases.
The R-rated “Bullet Train” doesn’t come cheap, so it’s a good thing the film managed to remain a big-screen draw throughout the fall. Sony spent $90 million to produce the film, plus tens of millions to promote it.
David Leitch, best known for “Deadpool 2”, directed “Bullet Train”, adapted from the Japanese novel “Maria Beetle” by Kōtarō Isaka. Pitt stars as a near-retirement assassin tasked with retrieving a briefcase from a high-speed train. What he doesn’t initially realize is that there are other trained killers on board looking to accomplish a similar mission. Pitt co-stars with Joey King, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael Shannon, Sandra Bullock and Benito A. Martínez Ocasio, better known as Bad Bunny.