Deadline is reporting that Steven Spielberg has tapped Bradley Cooper to play Frank Bullitt, the character made famous by Steve McQueen in 1968’s Bullitt, in an original story centred around the no-nonsense San Francisco cop.
The new film, as-yet-untitled, will mark the second collaboration between Cooper and Spielberg after the upcoming Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, which Spielberg invited Cooper to direct after seeing his work on A Star is Born.
Details on Spielberg’s plans for a new Bullitt movie are being kept under wraps, but it has been said that it will feature an original story, rather than serving as a remake of the original film. Oscar-winning Spotlight screenwriter Josh Singer is penning the script, having cowritten Maestro with Cooper. He also previously wrote the Spielberg-directed The Post.
Spielberg’s most recent film The Fabelmans is currently showing in select theaters and festivals ahead of a wide release in the U.S. this week. It opens in the UK in January. Read our review here.