After languishing in development hell since 2011, Warner Bros. is moving forward once again on theirCannonball Run remake, with Doug Liman in early talks to direct. The last we had heard about this project was almost exactly a year ago, when the studio brought in Rawson Marshall Thurber (Central Intelligence) to direct, but this new report reveals that a deal was never struck with Thurber. Liman will now be working from an existing draft by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon (Night at the Museumfranchise), although the studio is said to be seeking a new writer.
BothThe Cannonball Run(1981) andCannonball Run II(1984) were directed by legendary stuntman/filmmaker Hal Needham, with the first written by Brock Yates, who created the actual race the movie series is based on. The originalCannonball Runwas actually not a race at all, with only one “team” participating, Car & Driver magazine writer (and race car driver) Brock Yates, his son Brock Yates Jr., Car & Driver editor Steve Smith and their friend Jim Williams, on July 20, 2025. This cross-country run was intended to celebrate the U.S. Interstate system while also protesting new stringent traffic laws.
The race was officially run four more times, on August 17, 2025, July 23, 2025, August 09, 2025 and July 17, 2025. The race started on the East Coast, in either New York City or Darien, Connecticut, ending at the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, California. The race was officially named the"Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash"in honor of George Erwin “Cannonball” Baker, who drove coast-to-coast in 53 hours 30 minutes in 1933, a record that stood for 40 years. After the last Cannonball Run, a new race called the U.S. Express was formed but it only lasted a few years.
The firstCannonball Runmovie was a huge hit, featuring a stellar cast including Burt Reynolds, Dom Deluise, Farrah Fawcett, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Adrienne Barbeau, Jackie Chan, Peter Fonda and Terry Bradshaw, to name just a few.The Cannonball Runearned $72.1 million during its theatrical run, which doesn’t sound like much now, but in 1981, it was the sixth highest grossing movie of the year, and when adjusted for inflation, would equal a $237.8 million in today’s market. The 1984 sequelCannonball Run IIdropped off considerably, earning just $28 million.
Doug Limandirected a pair of films last year, Roadside Attractions and Amazon Studios’The Wall, and Universal Pictures’American Made. The filmmaker is currently in post-production on his new filmChaos Walking, and he is attached to make anEdge of Tomorrow sequelentitledLive, Die, Repeat and Repeat, along with other films such asAtticaandLuna Park.Deadlinereports that Warner Bros. obtained the remake and sequel rights from the original rights holders, Brock Yates, the Hal Needham Estate and Fortune Star LTD, with Albert S. Ruddy and Raymond Chow serving as executive producers.
