Well, now this is fascinating: On the May long weekend in 1977, the big movie blockbuster that everyone expected was going to clean up was the Burt Reynolds comedy Smokey and the Bandit. But, just as we’re seeing this weekend with another prospective blockbuster in The Avengers set to open, some Hollywood studios were ready to offer up some ‘counter-programming’, an ‘alt-flick’ film, if you will, that might appeal to the few — the very few — that might go against the tide and avoid the blockbuster.
So what was the counter-programming in May, 1977 to the anticipated blockbuster Smokey and the Bandit? Some little alt-flick called Star Wars.