Bradley Cooper Is Rebooting An Action Film Icon
Bradley Cooper and Steven Spielberg are finally teaming up on a film, a reimagining of the Steve McQueen classic Bullitt.
Bradley Cooper and Steven Spielberg are working together for the first time, in a reimagining of the Steve McQueen classic Bullitt. According to a report by Deadline, Cooper just signed on to star in and produce Spielberg’s latest directorial project, although official word has not been released. The film will likely be Cooper’s next project after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (which opens in May of next year) and the Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, which is currently in post-production.
Warner Bros. will release the film, with Spielberg serving as executive producer with Cooper, alongside Kristie Macosko Krieger (Cooper’s Maestro co-producer), as well as Chad and Molly McQueen, Steve McQueen’s son and granddaughter. Josh Singer (First Man, Fringe) is writing the screenplay.
The original 1968 film followed the exploits of San Francisco cop Frank Bullitt, who lets nothing get in his way to solve a mob murder case involving his witness. The film is noted for its outstanding atmosphere, which perfectly captured the gritty feel of San Francisco in the late 1960s. It also boasts one of the greatest car chases in cinematic history, during which McQueen (a noted car enthusiast and racer) drove a Ford Mustang over the dips and rises of San Francisco’s streets.
The Deadline report makes it clear that this is not a remake by the Indiana Jones director, but rather, a new take on the character. No start date is in sight, as the film is still in development, and a finished script and more casting needs to be completed.
Spielberg and Bradley Cooper have been trying to work together for years, and came close in 2013, when Spielberg nearly directed the Chris Kyle biopic American Sniper. Spielberg left the project, and Clint Eastwood ended up directing the film. Cooper ended up earning a Best Actor Oscar nomination for the film, which was also nominated for Best Picture and won one for Sound Editing.
Spielberg was also due to direct Maestro early in its development, but ended up leaving that project as well. After seeing Cooper’s directorial effort in 2018’s A Star is Born, he felt Cooper was a better fit for the director’s chair. Cooper will also play Bernstein, and Spielberg is still on board as a producer.
Maestro, also stars Carey Mulligan and will release in 2023 on Netflix. It will mark Cooper’s first on-screen acting since 2021’s Nightmare Alley and Licorice Pizza, with his role as Marvel’s CGI Rocket Raccoon taking up his time since then.
Bradley Cooper also has Academy Award nominations for producing Best Picture nominees Nightmare Alley (2021), Joker (2019), A Star is Born (2018) and American Sniper, in addition to his four acting nominations and one screenplay nomination.
The original Bullitt was directed by Peter Yates and also starred Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Vaughn, and Robert Duvall. It won an Academy Award in 1969 for Best Editing, in large part to the fantastic car chase sequence.
Steven Spielberg’s next directing effort will be The Fabelmans, which opens later this month, a follow-up to 2020’s West Side Story.
