Just several months ago we were reminded that Warner Bros. was still working away at getting a remake of THE CANNONBALL RUN off the ground when it was revealed that they were in negotiations with Rawson Marshall Thurber (WE'RE THE MILLERS) to direct the film and Thomas Lennon & Robert Ben Garant to pen the script. The original 1981 film featured an ensemble of 80's stars, including Burt Reynolds, Frank Sinatra, Dom Deluise, Roger Moore, Jackie Chan, Sammy Davis Jr., Farrah Fawcett, Peter Fonda, Dean Martin, Jamie Farr and more, as they took place in an illegal cross-country race where the participants were not above playing dirty tricks on one another.
While speaking with Rawson Marshall Thurber during the Television Critics Association panel for his new YouTube comedy series Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television, /Film managed to get a few details about the remake, which Thurber says will hopefully blend the stunts of FAST & FURIOUS with the fun of OCEAN'S ELEVEN.
I think we’re living in a post or current Fast and Furious world. So I don’t think Cannonball can out-Fast and Furious the Fast and the Furious. That’s its own thing, but we definitely want to harness that with the fun of Oceans 11 and put those together. It’ll have to be a different thing than Fast, but should have some great car action, obviously.
The project hasn't completely come together just yet, but if it does, Thurber says that he'd love to make it. Before the director can turn his sights to THE CANNONBALL RUN however, he's set to direct Dwayne Johnson in SKYSCRAPER, which is set to begin shooting in a week. Thurber previously worked with Johnson in CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE, and the upcoming action flick will find Johnson starring as Will Ford, a former FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and war veteran who now assesses security for skyscrapers. While on assignment in China, he finds the tallest, safest building in the world suddenly ablaze. What's more, he's been framed for it! Now a wanted man on the run, Ford must find those responsible, clear his name, and somehow rescue his family who are trapped, wait for it, inside the building, wait for it again, above the fire line. Rawson Marshall Thurber joked with /Film that SKYSCRAPER is essentially DIE HARD…in a building. Haw haw.
Yes, it’s exactly Die Hard in a building. Die Hard’s one of my all time favorite films and it owes a lot to Die Hard of course, but also Towering Inferno, Cliffhanger, a few other pictures.
SKYSCRAPER is set for a July 13, 2018 release, but as for THE CANNONBALL RUN, considering how long we're been hearing about this particular remake, I can't even venture a guess as to when we'll see it.