‘Cannonball Run’ Remake Sets Director Rawson Thurber in the Driver’s Seat
The Fate of the Furious. Cars 3. Mad Max: Fury Road. We just can’t seem to get enough of car race movies these days, and Warner Bros. is about to capitalize on audiences’ love of automobiles and equal love of nostalgia with a remake of The Cannonball Run, the Fast & Furious of its day that spawned two sequels and had perhaps THE ensemble cast. While the likes of Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, and Farrah Fawcett are unlikely to return, Warner Bros. is in the midst of assembling a new murderers’ row of stars for the planned reboot. But first, a director. Today brings the news that Central Intelligence’s Rawson Thurber will be the one to helm what might be the start of a new diesel-fueled franchise.
According to Deadline, Thurber is replacing Ethan Coen, yes, that Ethan Coen, who was hired last year to direct the reboot, which could be something of a bummer for a lot of fans. Thurber’s movies have more of a screwball comedy tone to them, as opposed to whatever wild mania Coen’s touch would have added to the movie. Then again, this is the guy who made Dodgeball. Maybe we’re looking at a new classic. If you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a sports car barreling down the high way to top speed, right?
The original Cannonball Run starred Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Adrienne Barbeau, Dean Martin, Jackie Chan, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Dom DeLuise (I know, right??) and focused on a massive, illegal cross-country race that went from Connecticut to California. Better start thinking about your dream cast now.
Thurber’s next film is Skyscraper, which will star Dwayne Johnson and, probably, a skyscraper.