Smokey and the Bandit II As he did in the first movie, Reynolds breaks the fourth wall after being reunited with Frog, by addressing the camera and saying, "She still loves me." Many of the movie's scenes take place in northern Palm Beach County, especially at Burt Reynolds' ranch in Jupiter, Florida. Although the Bandit again sticks to a Pontiac Trans Am, this time a 1980 Turbo model with 5 color decals unlike 1981's single color decals, Snowman switches to a 1980 GMC General, silver with blue trim with the same mural on the trailer as on the original film. This "new rig" suggests that
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