Latest in Hal Needham

UPDATED: MeTV will pay tribute to the life and legacy of actor and star Burt Reynolds with a special week of his memorable role in the Western drama television series Gunsmoke. Six tribute episodes starring Reynolds will air Monday, September 10, through Saturday, September 15, from 1 PM –2  PM ET/PT. It will begin…

Brock Yates, a legendary automobile racing journalist and author who conceived of the cross-country race popularly known as the Cannonball Run and who wrote the script for the film series’ first installment, died Wednesday of complications related to Alzheimer’s disease. He was 82. The son of author Raymond F. Yates…

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros has acquired the rights to the Cannonball Run franchise and set Tropic Thunder scribe Etan J. Cohen to write and direct Cannonball. Andre Morgan and Alan Gasmer (Vikings) are producing. The studio isn’t calling this a remake but rather a relaunch of a film based on the famous “Cannonball sea to…

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s the first glimpse at Jesse Moss’ feature documentary The Bandit, a firsthand look at Burt Reynolds, his best friend/roommate and one of Hollywood’s most famous stuntmen Hal Needham, and the making of their iconic 1977 movie Smokey & The Bandit. The docu has its world premiere Saturday at SXSW in the…

Related: R.I.P. Hal Needham The news Friday that Hal Needham had passed way was a sock in the solar plexus for me. Growing up in the ’70s and early ’80s, the former stuntman who helmed the likes of Smokey And The Bandit and The Cannonball Run pics was one of the first movie directors I was really aware of. When Quentin…

One of Hollywood’s most famous stuntmen and the writer-director of Smokey And The Bandit died this morning. Hal Needham, who received an Honorary Oscar this year, was 82. The co-founder of Stunts Unlimited performed and/or coordinated stunts for hundreds of films and TV shows during his long career. He also pioneered…

Flight director Robert Zemeckis was sitting next to me at Saturday’s fourth annual Governors Awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences saluting Hal Needham, George Stevens Jr., D.A. Pennebaker, and Jean Hersholt Humanitarian winner Jeffrey Katzenberg. He asked what I thought the news coming out of…

Shortly after he was elected as the new President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences this summer I asked Hawk Koch what he thought of the three-year-old Governors Awards – specifically, if the Academy should make it a TV event. He immediately responded that he liked it the way it was. He said that…

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted tonight to present Honorary Awards to stunt performer Hal Needham, documentarian D. A. Pennebaker and arts advocate George Stevens, Jr., and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to philanthropist Jeffrey Katzenberg. All…