Joey King set to join Brad Pitt in action flick Bullet Train based on a Japanese novel

She’s a young and up-and-coming actress who’s enjoyed success on Netflix and Hulu, and he’s a Hollywood leading man who recently scored his first-ever Oscar for acting.

And now, Joey King is set to team up with Brad Pitt, as she’s is in talks to join his new film Bullet Train from Sony Pictures, Deadline reports.

The film, based on the Japanese novel Maria Beetle by bestselling author Kôtarô Isaka, follows five assassins aboard a high-tech, fast-moving train who soon discover ‘their missions have something in common,’ according to the film’s IMDb synopsis.

Both Pitt, 56, and King, who just recently celebrated her 21st birthday, are slated to portray two of the hitmen, with Brad in a more primary role (named Ladybug, no less) and Joey in a featured or cameo appearance.

Joey is the Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated actress from Hulu’s acclaimed limited series The Act from last year, as well as Netflix’s successful teen rom-com franchise The Kissing Booth.

The second installment in that franchise dropped on the streaming giant’s platform late last month, following the popular 2018 first film following a shy high schooler (King) who faces her crush in a kissing booth.

A third film, aptly titled Kissing Booth 3, is already slated for release next year. 

Brad, meanwhile, is coming off his glorious Oscar win for Supporting Actor for his turn as a stuntman in last year’s Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood from director Quentin Tarantino.

Bullet Train marks Pitt’s first acting project to officially get the green light since that film. 

The Thelma And Louise star is enjoying a stellar year professionally, as he also recently nabbed a Primetime Emmy nomination for playing Dr. Anthony Fauci on Saturday Night Live.

 

Bullet Train is hoping to start production in Los Angeles this fall, but that is of course contingent on how and when film shoots will be allowed to happen amid the continued coronavirus pandemic, with California still among the states with the most confirmed cases.

David Leitch, the stuntman-turned-director of Deadpool 2 and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, is set to helm the thriller.

Deadline also reports that the English version of the novel Maria Beetle will be published next year.