Sometimes, you really have to wonder if studio executives are paying attention to how much money they’re pouring into a project. For years, Warner Bros. has been trying to get a remake of “Cannonball Run” on the big screen. Eons ago, Guy Ritchie was in talks to direct a version that would’ve had General Motors co-financing the movie, and providing all the cars and trucks that would need to race fast and get smashed up. Meanwhile, just last year, Etan Cohen (“Tropic Thunder,” “Idiocracy,” “Men In Black 3,” “Get Hard”) was tapped to write and direct the project. Now, the creative players are changing yet again.
Deadline reports that Rawson Thurber (“Dodgeball,” “We’re The Millers,” “Central Intelligence“) is now lined up to direct “Cannonball Run,” with screenwriting duo Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant (“Night At The Museum,” “Baywatch“) penning the script. The movie is being described as a relaunch instead of remake (sure, guys) and I’d assume it’ll just be an updated, cameo-filled version of the original movie, which centered on a big, illegal, cross-country road race.
Given how long this movie has been knocking around inside the walls of Warner Bros., we’ll see if this iteration of “Cannonball Run” actually gets going. Moreover, we’ll see if a whole new generation of moviegoers four decades on from the 1981 original even cares to see this brand resurface.