Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan is said to be developing a TV series based on the high speed comedy The Cannonball Run

Four years after bringing the world the high speed comedy classic Smokey and the Bandit (and three years after their stuntman comedy Hooper and one year after Smokey and the Bandit II), director Hal Needham and star Burt Reynolds teamed up again for another high speed comedy, the goofball ensemble film The Cannonball Run. The film was a big hit, the sixth highest-grossing domestic film of 1981, and it was followed by a pair of less successful sequels, Cannonball Run II (1983) and Speed Zone (1989). Even though the follow-ups aren’t highly regarded, The Cannonball Run is still a well-known title, which is why we’ve been hearing rumblings of a remake for years. Now, industry scooper Jeff Sneider of The InSneider reports that Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan is likely to be the one to finally bring The Cannonball Run back to the screen, as his production company, Bosque Ranch, is developing a series reboot of The Cannonball Run for the Paramount+ streaming service.

As Sneider notes, “The Cannonball Run is the first piece of established I.P. that Sheridan will be adapting for television, where he has made his name with original series such as Yellowstone, 1883, 1923, Tulsa King, Landman, Lioness, Mayor of Kingstown, and Lawmen: Bass Reeves.” Sheridan isn’t known for doing comedy, so it’s not currently clear if he’ll be sticking with the tone of the original The Cannonball Run, or if he’s going to take the set-up and deliver something more serious with this show.

Here’s what The Cannonball Run was about: Contestants in a cross-country car race from Connecticut to California include a speed-loving racing driver disguised as an ambulance driver and his dimwitted sidekick, a pair of Ferrari-driving priests, and a James Bond-type character kitted out with secret weapons. Burt Reynolds was joined in the cast by Dom DeLuise, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Dean Martin, George Furth, Jackie Chan, Michael Hui, Jamie Farr, Mel Tillis, Terry Bradshaw, Adrienne Barbeau, Tara Buckman, Bert Convy, Jack Elam, and many more.

We’ve been hearing talk of a remake since at least 2011, at which time it was said that Guy Ritchie wanted to make a new The Cannonball Run with George Clooney in the lead. We also heard that Shawn Levy wanted to direct, with Ben Stiller in the lead. Etan Cohen wrote a script and was attached to direct. Then Rawson Marshall Thurber was in talks to direct from a screenplay by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, with the aim being to make the film a blend of The Fast and the Furious and Ocean’s 11. After that fell through, the project was offered to Doug Liman, but we never heard anything more about it. Now, it has moved from being a film reboot to a TV series.

What do you think of Taylor Sheridan making a TV series of The Cannonball Run for Paramount+? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.