The Bandit Run The Bandit Run The Bandit Run is a reenactment of the journey portrayed in the 1977 film, "Smokey and the Bandit". The reenactment first took place on May 15, 2007 and has become an annual event. The reenactment was the brainchild of David Hershey and Dave Hall who wanted to commemorate the 30-year anniversary of the classic film. Hall, of the website, "Restore a Muscle Car" and Hershey came up with the idea shortly after Hershey purchased his restored 1977 Pontiac Trans Am from him in 2006. Following the same route that the characters Bo "Bandit" Darville (Burt Reynolds) and
Smokey and the Bandit $4.3 million two days before initial production), the film eventually grossed $126,737,428 in North America, making it the second-highest-grossing movie of 1977. The worldwide gross is estimated at over $300 million. Burt Reynolds rated the film as the one he most enjoyed and had the most fun making in his career. Film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film a good rating (3 stars out of a possible 4) and characterized it as "About as subtle as "The Three Stooges", but a classic compared to the sequels and countless rip-offs which followed." Gene Siskel, in his review in the "Chicago Tribune",