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 puke" (a roadside diner) was not in the original story, but rather was Gleason's idea. Before Gleason was cast in the film, Richard Boone was originally considered for the role of Buford T. Justice. Sally Field only accepted the part after her agent advised her that she needed a big movie role on her resume. Reynolds actively pushed for her casting after Universal initially resisted, claiming Field was not attractive enough. Field enjoyed making the film, but remembers that virtually the entire project was improvised. Reportedly, Needham had great difficulty getting any studios or producers to take his project seriously,