It looks like Burt Reynolds’ beloved Smokey and the Bandit franchise is making a comeback! The beloved 1977 film is getting the TV treatment, as Halloween director David Gordon Green is partnering with Brian Sides and Family Guy‘s Seth MacFarlane to develop an ongoing series based on the original Reynolds project. Smokey and the Bandit will mark the latest classic property getting a new adaptation, following one of the biggest creative trends of the last several years.
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Gordon Green is writing the script for the new series along with Sides, both of whom are from the south and see Smokey and the Bandit as an iconic film franchise. MacFarlane will develop through his Fuzzy Door production banner. In addition to penning the script, Gordon Green will also direct the pilot and executive produce alongside Danny McBride, Jody Hill, Brandon James, Erica Huggins, and MacFarlane. Sides will co-executive produce.
“Growing up in the south, Smokey and the Bandit was an iconic franchise for me. The legacy of these characters is a playground of swagger and sass that I’m excited to dig into,” said Green.
“When UCP mentioned Smokey and the Bandit we were immediately drawn to it. We knew we had to remain faithful to its original setting in the South, and find an authentic voice. David’s immediate interest and his unique perspective and love for the original made it possible. Smokey and the Bandit was a very cool and irreverent film at the time and we hope to achieve that same feeling in the show,” said Huggins.
The Smokey and the Bandit series will “focus on a southern epic adventure of family, legend, and legacy, small-town crime, a novel quest, and unlikely heroes and is inspired by the genre of ’70s and ’80s drive-in dixie classics, exploring the crossroads where humble realities meet larger-than-life in a blast of tailpipe exhaust,” according to Deadline.
Are you excited for this Smokey and the Bandit reboot series? Let us know in the comments!
