There probably will be a Cannonball Run remake
First rumored back in February, when the bitter winds make callous disbelievers of us all, Warner Bros. really does seem to be prepping a remake of The Cannonball Run, really. Released in 1981, Hal Needham’s original madcap ensemble comedy—itself basically an all-star rehash of 1976's The Gumball Rally—was something of a pop-culture time capsule, a metaphorical race between Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.’s ring-a-ding ’60s cool and Burt Reynolds’ hirsute ’70s swagger to see which archetype would dominate the ’80s. (The answer: Adrienne Barbeau in Spandex.) And according to a report in Vulture, a new Cannonball Run might once again embody the era we’re living in by becoming, essentially, a two-hour commercial for General Motors. The beleaguered, now partially government-owned automaker is said to be considering boosting its public profile by possibly using the film as a way to spotlight its entire car lineup (except for perhaps the Volt, as nobody’s winning a cross-country race with that), which would make every U.S. taxpayer an indirect investor in the film. It sells itself!