Bullitt Is Back, Baby! New Spielberg Movie to Star Bradley Cooper

A report in the Hollywood media outlet Deadline.com says Academy Award-nominated actor/director Bradley Cooper has been signed to play Lt. Frank Bullitt in a sequel of the same (last) name to the iconic 1968 movie that starred Steve McQueen.

“Sources tell Deadline that Bradley Cooper has closed a deal to play the no-nonsense San Francisco cop in the new original Bullitt story centered on the classic character famously played by Steve McQueen in the 1968 thriller,” Deadline reporter Justin Kroll wrote.

A call and an email to Cooper’s reps, Range Media Partners, have not been returned yet.

Steven Spielberg and Cooper will produce the film. Steve McQueen’s son Chad and granddaughter Molly McQueen are listed as executive producers. There’s no mention of Chad McQueen’s son, also named Steve McQueen, appearing in the sequel. Grandson McQueen is also an actor and has had regular roles in The Vampire Diaries, Chicago Fire and Chicago PD. It would be cool to have him in the new movie somewhere.

But what’s most important to car enthusiasts was left untouched in the news story: Will there be a car chase? The 11-minute car chase from the 1968 movie between Lt. Frank Bullitt in his Mustang Fastback and two Chicago hitmen in a black Dodge Charger is one of the most iconic in film history. Bench racers regularly recount, as if their listeners have never heard it before, that “five hubcaps come flying off the Charger, man!” and point out that body damage appears on the cars before they have actually hit anything.

No matter, it is greatness.

Is it possible that the incredible reserve of the seemingly stoic Bullitt can only be carried off by McQueen? Perhaps. But we’re willing to give Cooper a go at it.

Deadline says its sources are adamant that the movie is not a remake of the original movie but “a new idea centered on the character.” Deadline.com is considered one of the most reliable sources for entertainment industry news, along with the Hollywood Reporter and Variety. So maybe it’ll actually happen. First, Cooper has to finish post-production of his current project, “Maestro,” about the life of conductor Leonard Bernstein. That is scheduled to be released by Netflix next year.

After that, we can hope: Bullitt!