Will not be a remake of 1968 classic
Steven Spielberg set to direct
Steven Spielberg is making a sequel to one of the most famous car chase movies of all time. It will be a new spin on Bullitt, with Bradley Cooper set to star.
Deadline Hollywood reports the news of the star and director, with the movie under development at Warner Bros. Plot details haven’t been leaked yet, but the expectation is that the movie will be a new story involving Cooper as detective Frank Bullitt and not a remake of the original.
1968’s Bullitt is best known for the iconic San Francisco-set car chase involving a Ford Mustang and a Dodge Charger, and little else. The rest of the film, though said to be groundbreaking at the time, has pacing far too slow for a 2022 audience.
While the multiple Academy Award-winning Spielberg might seem an odd choice for what should in essence be a car chase movie, he does have experience making some amazing chases. The director’s first film was 1971’s Duel, a 90-minute film that was a high-tension chase for nearly all of those minutes. Plus we can’t forget the mine-cart chase in Temple of Doom or the dinosaur chases in Jurassic Park and its sequels.
The McQueen family will be involved in the production, and Josh Singer is attached as the screenwriter for the project.
Now what about the chase? Would Spielberg and Ford be so on the nose as to use a Bullitt-edition Ford Mustang? Would the character be able to out run a modern-day Charger Hellcat? So many car-casting questions await.