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Poster for The Cannonball Run
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Released
1981 · FILM

The Cannonball Run

A motley crew of daredevil drivers races coast‑to‑coast in an illegal, high‑octane road rally, battling relentless law enforcement and rival speedsters to claim the ultimate cross‑country prize.

“You'll root for them all...but you'll never guess who wins.”

Directed by
Hal Needham
Written by
Brock Yates
Rated
MPA · PG
Runtime
95 min
ActionComedySport
Streaming on
  • Paramount+

Synopsis

The film *A cross-country road race* is based on the real-life event known as the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, organized by Brock Yates as a protest against the 55 mph speed limit in the United States. The event was named after Erwin G. "Cannonball" Baker, who in the 1920s famously rode his motorcycle across the country. Many of the characters in the film are inspired by the ruses developed by real participants in the Cannonball over the years the event was held.

Credits

Actors
Editor
Director of Photography
Writers
Director

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

Principal cast & crew: 21

These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.

Why a floor?

This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.

Craft leads on file

Edited by Donn CambernShot by Michael C Butler

Box Office

1981 · Box office

💰 Box-office hit — grossed 4.0× its budget

Why 2.5×?

Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).

Worldwide gross

$72.2M

Budget$18.0M
Worldwide gross$72.2M
break-even (2.5×)

Opening weekend: $11.8M — 16% of its US run.

Opening week (7-day): $11.8M — 16% of its US & Canada run.

Peak 1,673 theaters

Also known as

  • Auf dem Highway ist die Hölle losde
  • L'Équipée du Cannonballfr
  • La corsa più pazza d'Americait

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