Will Smith, Kevin Hart set to remake 'Planes, Trains & Automobiles'
Travel, even when not in the middle of a mask-necessitating pandemic, can be kind of a nightmare.
And no movie has shown that to us better than 1987's "Planes, Trains & Automobiles," a film in which Neal (Steve Martin) just wants to get home to his family for Thanksgiving ... but is not only thwarted at every step, but hampered by human barnacle Del (John Candy).
And now Will Smith and Kevin Hart are remaking the classic John Hughes-directed comedy, TODAY has confirmed.
"The remake will be a modern update of the original, with Smith and Hart as the oil-and-water duo," Paramount Pictures said in a statement. "Despite not getting along the two must team up to tackle the gauntlet of holiday travel disasters to get home to their loved ones."
Hart posted about the news on Instagram Monday:
"I've been patiently waiting for the right project to team up with my brother with," he wrote in the caption. "We found it and are developing it together with our teams. This will be huge for us and the city of brotherly love aka Philadelphia..... let’s goooooo @willsmith"
The actors will also be producing, with writer Aeysha Carr ("Brooklyn Nine-Nine") penning the script. And while it seems obvious that Smith will play Martin's straight man just trying to get home, with Hart taking over the more outsized Candy role, we're kind of hoping that maybe they might swap those expected roles. And of course, we'd watch either version!
Perhaps surprisingly, the pair have never co-headlined a feature film together before. Clearly, this is a situation that needs to be rectified as soon as possible. And while there's no set start date for shooting, or for release, we expect this to become a big holiday favorite, just like the original.
