It was recently announced after 5 years of development that theCannonball Runremake has finally gotten itself a director. Warner Bros. brought Rawson Marshall Thurber (Central Intelligence) on to direct the remake with a writing team that includes Thomas Lennon (Reno 911) and Robert Ben Garant (Reno 911). Thurber was interviewed at the Television Critics Association panel for his new YouTube comedy seriesRyan Hanson Solves Crimes on Televisionand he brought up what fans ofCannonball Runcan expect from the new reboot.
During the panel,director Rawson Marshall Thurbermentioned viaSlashFilmthat the remake forCannonball Runis currently being written by Lennon and Garant and that they’ll basically see what they have after that. The original movie was azany cross-country car racecomedy starring Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, and Jackie Chan among others that featured crazycar stuntsduring a very different type of race. Since the release of theFast and Furiousfranchise, moviegoers are expecting more and more extreme car stunts coming out of action movies these days and that is definitely something that Thurber has taken note of.
Thurber mentioned that the remake ofCannonball Runmay be able to benefit from those insane stunts from theFast and Furious, but also was careful to say that the remake would not be a lighthearted take on the extreme movie franchise. Instead the director brings upOcean’s 11and says that a possible mix of those two movies could work. The idea of mixing those two ideas into aCannonball Runremake could end up being a pretty interesting combination. Thurber explains.
“I think we’re living in a post or currentFast and Furious worldsI don’t thinkCannonballcan out-Fast and Furious theFast and the Furious. That’s its own thing, but we definitely want to harness that with the fun ofOcean’s 11and put those together. It’ll have to be a different thing thanFast, but should have some great car action, obviously.”
The firstCannonball Runcame out in 1981 and became the 6th highest grossing movie of that year and spawned 2 sequels. In addition to spawning the 2 sequels, the original movie also brought a renewed interest in the real-life races that the movie was based off of. Car enthusiasts are still running their own time-lapse races to beat the records that were set in the original 5 races.
Burt Reynolds who starred in the originalCannonball Runhas recently suggested some advice to Warner Bros. about making the new version and it seems as though Rawson Marshall Thurber has taken note. Reynolds said that the key to the success of the new movie would rely on getting as many big-name stars as possible. Reynolds also said, “you have to be able to get a lot of people nobody thinks you may get,” which could be one of the reasons that Thurber has talked about anOcean’s 11type of vibe. Writing has just started and we’re still a long way out from seeingThe Cannonball Runremake, but it sure seems to be like it’s heading in the right direction.
