On This Day

Smokey and the Bandit released

May 27th 1977

08:39 27 May 2024

'Smokey and the Bandit' opened in theaters across North America on this day in 1977. Burt Reynolds, Sally Field and Jackie Gleason star in stuntman Hal Needham's directorial debut, a road action comedy involving two bootleggers attempting to illegally transport 400 cases of Coors beer across country while being pursued by the law.

The movie was a sleeper hit, going on to earn more than $126 million at the North American box office, making it the second-highest grossing domestic film of 1977 after 'Star Wars'.