Smokey and the Bandit episodes of the series. Needham saw an advertisement for the soon-to-be-released 1977 Pontiac Trans Am and knew right away that would be the Bandit's car, or, as Needham referred to it, a character in the movie. He contacted Pontiac and an agreement was made that four 1977 Trans Ams and two Pontiac LeMans 4-door sedans would be provided for the movie. The Trans Ams were actually 1976-model cars with 1977 front ends. (From 1970 to 1976, both the Firebird/Trans Am and Chevrolet Camaro had two round headlights, and in 1977, the Firebird/Trans Am was changed to four rectangular headlights, while
Smokey and the Bandit on vinyl, cassette and 8-track through MCA Records. "Smokey and the Bandit" was a sleeper hit. The film premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City where it performed badly. It then opened in just the South of the United States over the Memorial Day weekend and grossed $2,689,851 in 386 theatres. By the end of June it had played in major Southern markets including Charlotte, Atlanta, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Memphis, Dallas and Oklahoma City grossing $11.9 million. It opened in other Northern states at the end of July. With an original budget of $5.3 million (cut to