Will Smith and Kevin Hart are already the Steve Martin and John Candy for a new generation (because Smith also gets frustrated when nobody takes his banjo career seriously and “Hart,” like “Candy,” is a noun if you spell it differently), so now the two of them are finally fulfilling their destiny by starring in a remake of the famous Steve Martin/John Candy vehicle Planes, Trains, And Automobiles. The original, directed by John Hughes, was about a cranky guy and a fun-loving wacky guy who have to work together to get to their respective homes before Thanksgiving, with the cranky guy eager to see his family and the wacky guy just a little desperate for some companionship—almost like he’s actually sad and lonely deep down, but that seems unlikely given how wacky he is. Given their typical comedic personas (and the reasons we mentioned up above), Will Smith is absolutely playing the Steve Martin cranky guy and Kevin Hart is absolutely playing the John Candy wacky guy.
Deadline says this new one will be the feature directorial debut of Aeysha Carr, who has written for Brooklyn Nine-Nine and executive produced the upcoming Lamorne Morris/Sasheer Zamata Hulu show Woke. It’ll be interesting to see how something like this works in the age of cellphones and Ubers and all of the other technological advances that could save you from having to take an extended road trip with someone you don’t get along with. Will there be a scene where Kevin Hart deletes all of Will Smith’s podcasts? Because we’ve gotta see that.