Warners is looking to get into the cross-country race business.
The studio has purchased the rights to the classic 1980s comedy-action Cannonball Run franchise and have hired Tropic Thunder writer Etan J. Cohen to write and direct their planned relaunch of the series which they are titling Cannonball.
Cohen is an interesting choice, and since his script for Tropic Thunder blended action and laughs, he is a good one as well. Granted, he does also have Men In Black III on his resume. But that screenplay went through numerous rewrites, some of which were not by him. He made his directorial debut last year with the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard.
The original 1981 Cannonball Run (see its trailer below) and its 1984 and 1989 sequels were directed by Smokey And The Bandit helmer Hal Needham. The first two films starred Burt Reynolds, Dom Deluise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Roger Moore, Jackie Chan and a host of other stars while the third film featured the likes of John Candy, Donna Dixon, Eugene Levy and Brooke Shields.
Via Deadline.
