Salma Hayek Pinault, Anne Hathaway to Star in Netflix Adaptation of 'Bullet Train' Author's 'Seesaw Monster'

Anne Hathaway and Salma Hayek will star in a Netflix adaptation of the novel by Kōtarō Isaka, author of the Hitman trilogy.

Salma Hayek Pinault, Anne Hathaway to Star in Netflix Adaptation of ‘Bullet Train’ Author’s ‘Seesaw Monster’

Anne Hathaway and Salma Hayek Pinault are boarding a bullet train for Netflix. The two actors are set to star in and produce a feature adaptation of the novel “Seesaw Monster,” by Kōtarō Isaka, who wrote the novel on which “Bullet Train” was based.

Plot details of the film are under wraps, but Netflix describes the film as an action-comedy that will see Hathaway and Hayek Pinault play rivals forced to work together. The “Seesaw Monster” book was published in Japan in 2019 and has not yet been released in English, so little information about its plot exists online.

News of the project follows the end of the theatrical run for “Bullet Train,” a Sony Pictures adaptation of Isaka’s thriller “Maria Beetle.” The book, the second in the mystery author’s “Hitman” trilogy, focused on a group of assassins attempting to carry out their assignments on the same Japanese bullet train ride. Directed by David Leitch, the film featured an ensemble cast led by Brad Pitt, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Bad Bunny, and Sandra Bullock.

Although “Bullet Train” received mixed reviews from critics, it was a financial success, grossing over $200 million worldwide off of a roughly $90 million production budget. The film was the first English-language adaptation of Isaka’s work, although several Japanese films based on his novels have been released, including 2015’s “Grasshopper” based on the first book in the “Hitman” trilogy.

The screenplay for “Seesaw Monster” will be written by Olivia Milch, best known for writing the “Ocean’s 11” spinoff film “Ocean’s Eight.” The project will reunite her with Hathaway, who starred in the heist film along with Cate Blanchett and Sandra Bullock.

Hathaway produces “Seesaw Monster” for Somewhere Pictures, while Hayek Pinault produces for Ventanarosa Productions. Additional producers include Akiva Goldsman and Gregory Lessans for Weed Road Pictures and “Bullet Train” producers Ryosuke Saegusa and Yuma Terada for Japanese management company CTB Inc. Milch executive produces the film, along with Jose Tamez and Siobhan Flynn for Ventanarosa and Adam Shulman and Jonathan Rice for Somewhere.

Hayek Pinault most recently starred in “House of Gucci,” “Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard,” and Marvel’s “Eternals” last year. The Mexican-American actor will voice a character in “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” this December, and will star opposite Channing Tatum in “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” in February. Hathaway is in the ensemble cast of James Gray’s “Armageddon Time,” currently playing in theaters, and starred as Rebekah Neumann on Apple TV+’s “WeCrashed” earlier this year. Other projects on the Oscar-winning actor’s slate include the Wattpad rom-com adaptation “The Idea of You” and the thrillers “Eileen” and “Mother’s Instinct.”