By Bo Durban
Last update 2/23/2023

(A WORK IN PROGRESS)

• October, 1975 - Burt Reynolds, Hal Needham and Jerry Reed are in Savanah, GA filming "Gator" when Hal Needham gets the idea for the SatB. Hal catches his housekeeper stealing Coors beer from his room and confronts her. She informs him it is illegal to transport Coors east of the Mississippi.
• May, 1976 - Jennifer Shull announces she will be the casting director for SatB
• July 30, 1976 - First Draft of the screenplay titled "Bandit" is published by Universal Studios
• August 20, 1976 - One line schedule is published for SatB.
• August 28, 1976 - Universal Studios informs Hal Needham that his budget has been cut from $5.3M to $4.3M.
• August 29, 1976 - Hal Needham and Burt Reynolds host an "Ugly Dog Contest" at the Atlanta Civic Center to pick a dog to play the part of Fred.
• August 30, 1976 - Filming of SatB starts in Jonesboro, GA
• September 2, 1976 - Final draft of the screenplay is published by Universal.
• September 24-29, 1976 - Filming at Lakewood Fairgrounds
• October 11, 1976 - Last day of filming in Georgia
• December, 1976 - Filming continues in California (2nd Unit and Drive In scenes)
• January, 1977 - First rough cut of SatB shown to Hollywood insiders
• May 13, 1977 - Georgia Premier of Smokey and the Bandit at Loews Tara Theater.
• May 19, 1977 - Smokey and the Bandit opens at Radio City Music Hall in New York City
• May 27, 1977 - Smokey and the Bandit officially released