The Bandit Run of the movie's most famous sites. 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
Smokey and the Bandit legal pads. Upon showing it to his friend, Reynolds told Needham that it was the worst script he had ever read but that he would still make the movie. Most of the dialogue was improvised on set. Universal Studios bankrolled "Smokey and the Bandit" for $5.3 million, figuring it was a good risk. Just two days before production was to begin, Universal sent a "hatchet man" to Atlanta to inform Needham that the budget was being trimmed by $1 million. With Reynolds' salary at $1 million, Needham was left with only $3.3 million to make the film. Needham and assistant