That sound you hear is the creaking of the vault door as yet another catalogue title is plucked from storage, dusted down and handed to a new filmmaking team. This time, it's the turn of The Cannonball Run, which now has Etan Cohen writing and directing a new version.
The three Cannonball Run films (which screeched into cinemas in 1981, 1984 and 1989 from a variety of studios) featured sprawling casts of actors, but were primarily driven – for the first two, at least – by Burt Reynolds' cocky J.J. McClure and Dom DeLuise's luckless Victor Prinzim. Based on real-life cross-country races, the films found the competitors trying anything to win.
According to Deadline, Warner Bros., which nabbed the rights from its current holders, is saying this won't be a remake, but intends to relaunch the idea. Cohen, who had screenplay credits on films such as Idiocracy, Tropic Thunder and Men In Black 3 before turning writer/director for last year's Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard, will marshall the madness. Given his comedy connections, we'd expect a healthy clutch of funny people in the new one, whatever it turns out to be.
To read Reynolds talking about the original film, read our wide-ranging interview with the man here.