A Cannonball Run remake is on the way with Rawson Thurber set to direct
Cannonball Run is returning to theaters as Deadline is reporting that Warner Bros. Pictures has tapped director Rawson Marshall Thurber (Central Intelligence, We’re the Millers) to direct its Cannonball Run remake. The studio has also hired ace comedy writers Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant (Night at the Museum franchise) to write the script, which is described by insiders as a “relaunch” rather than a “remake.” The duo previously collaborated on an as-yet-unmade Choose Your Own Adventure movie with Thurber.
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Thurber is replacing director Etan Cohen (Get Hard), who Warners hired last year. Andre Morgan and Alan Gasmer are attached to produce the film, which may be titled simply Cannonball. Albert S. Ruddy and Raymond Chow will executive produce.
The Cannonball Run, released in 1981, was directed by Hal Needham from a screenplay by Brock Yates. Starring the ensemble cast of Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Adrienne Barbeau, Dean Martin, Jackie Chan, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Dom DeLuise, The Cannonball Run follows the contestants of a massive illegal cross country race that stretches from Connecticut to California. The original film received a sequel, Cannonball Run II, in 1984, also helmed by Needham. Reynolds was approached to reprise his franchise role for a third film, to be titled Cannonball Fever, but he ultimately turned it down. Instead, Jim Drake helmed a 1986 sequel/spinoff retitled Speed Zone. Speed Zone featured an almost entirely new cast made up primarily of SCTV actors. Jamie Farr’s Sheik Abdul ben Falafel is the only character to appear in all three Cannonball Run films.
Thurber will next direct the action pic Skyscraper with Dwayne Johnson for Legendary and Universal.
How do you feel about a Cannonball Run remake / relaunch? Who would you like to see as part of a new ensemble cast? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
