After directing the Will Ferrell–Kevin Hart comedy “Get Hard” for Warner Bros., Etan Cohen has been set to write and direct “Cannonball,” a new riff on the popular “Cannonball Run” franchise that starred Burt Reynolds, an individual with knowledge of the project has told TheWrap.
Andre Morgan is producing with Alan Gasmer, while Albert S. Ruddy and Raymond Chow will serve as executive producers.
While 20th Century Fox released the first “Cannonball Run” movie, which chronicled an illegal cross-country race where the participants weren’t afraid to cheat or play dirty.
Warner Bros., however, released the sequel, and acquired all sequel and remake rights to the franchise from the original copyright owners, including Hal Needham‘s estate. Warners executive Jesse Ehrman will oversee the project for the studio.
Before directing “Get Hard,” Cohen wrote “Tropic Thunder” and “Men in Black 3.” He’s represented by CAA and Mosaic, though it was WME that negotiated the rights deal with Greenberg Traurig.