Variety reports that Will Smith and Kevin Hart will star in and produce a remake of the 1987 road comedy “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” for Paramount Pictures.
The original “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” was directed by John Hughes, and starred Steve Martin and the late John Candy as a pair of mismatched businessmen trying to get home to Chicago for Thanksgiving in the face of a variety of travel disasters.
The remake will be a modern update of the original, with Smith and Hart playing characters who are forced to team up to tackle travel obstacles to get home to their loved ones.
Hart’s HartBeat Productions and Smith’s Westbrook Studios are developing the remake. Aeysha Carr (“Brooklyn 99”) is set to pen the screenplay, marking her feature writing debut. Hart and Smith will produce the film alongside Westbrook Studios co-president and head of motion pictures Jon Mone and HartBeat’s president of film and television Bryan Smiley.
Smith was most recently seen in “Bad Boys for Life.” He’s in production on “King Richard,” in which he stars as the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams. Hart was last seen in “Jumanji: The Next Level” and has completed production on the drama “Fatherhood,” which Sony will release in April 2021.
Carr most recently executive produced the upcoming Hulu series “Woke,” starring Lamorne Morris and Sasheer Zamata, and set to air in September. Her recent writing credits include episodes for a number of sitcoms, including the series “Brooklyn 99,” for which she also served as a supervising producer.