Knight Rider

Some call it a loss of Hollywood ideas, while others call it a smart move to resurrect a popular series. Whichever it may be, talk of a new Knight Rider movie, which would involve series original David Hasselhoff, has been in and around the Hollywood ether for some time. Let’s see where we are at with David Hasselhoff and the Knight Rider movie.

DAVID HASSELHOFF WAS REPORTEDLY INVOLVED

David Hasselhoff (also of Baywatch fame) starred in the original Knight Rider as Michael Knight, a modern-day crime-fighter who used KITT, an artificially intelligent car, to aid him along the way.

The car itself was virtually indestructible and was voiced by the late actor William Daniels (St. Elsewhere, Boy Meets World).

The series ran from 1982-1986 and was created by Glen A. Larson (who passed away in 2014), creator of such shows like Alias Smith and Jones, Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Battlestar Galactica, Magnum, P.I., and The Fall Guy.

David Hasselhoff did say in an interview at the time when the movie was being talked about that he has some involvement in the film. “The details I can share are I have an emotional hand in it and I have a passion,” said Hasselhoff.

It sounds like he has been consulted or at least made aware of the plans for the movie, but he has yet to be brought onto the project in any official capacity. Here’s hoping fans can at least see him make a cameo if a new Knight Rider film gets made.

JAMES WAN HAD BEEN ON BOARD TO DIRECT

While the original Knight Rider series is ripe for a reboot, it might be kind of shocking that horror producer/director James Wan was on board at one point to breathe life into a Knight Rider movie.

True, Wan has stepped out of his horror lane on features like Aquaman, Fast & Furious 7, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and even the TV series MacGyver, so it isn’t out of character for him to take on a project such as Knight Rider.

It is unclear if Wan will only be carrying the producer role if and when the film moves forward or if he will actually be in the director’s chair for it. If he does direct the film (his busy schedule may prevent that), he would be directing from a script written by T.J. Fixman. Fixman. Fixman is best known as the writer for the video games series Ratchet & Clank as well as the feature film version of the same name.

The movie will be developed by Spyglass Media Group and also under Wan’s Atomic Monster banner, the production company that has produced such horror hits as The Conjuring 2, Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation, The Nun, and The Curse of La Llorona, all that fall within Wan’s Conjuring Universe franchise.

JAMES GUNN AND DAVID HASSELHOFF HAD SPOKEN ABOUT A KNIGHT RIDER MOVIE

James Wan isn’t the only big-name director (or James, for that matter) who has been attached to a Knight Rider project. You can also add DC’ s and Guardians of the Galaxy’s James Gunn as a person of interest.

In fact, Gunn and OG David Hasselhoff are friends and claim to have spoken to each other on occasion about putting together a Knight Rider movie. Gunn eventually came to the conclusion that “there aren’t enough hours in the day to do all the cool things I want to do!” Too bad, it would have been interesting to see what Gunn and Hasselhoff could have done with a new Knight Rider.

A KNIGHT RIDER MOVIE WOULD HAVE HAD A NEW KITT

One of the most important questions for any Knight Rider fan is what kind of car will the movie version of KITT be? The original KITT was a 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. He looked like this…

There are now only five of the original Knight Rider cars left in existence, and they’re a hot commodity for collectors.

In 2008, when they rebooted the show, KITT was changed into a 2008 Ford Shelby GT, and nobody was really happy about it. Here’s that less-loved version…

Ideally, fans want KITT to be a black Firebird Trans Am. Unfortunately, Pontiac went out of business in 2010 and they stopped making Trans Am’s in 2002. Here’s the 2002 version…

Obviously, that is much too outdated to serve as the new KITT. The closest current analog to the Trans Am is the Chevy Camaro. The Trans Am was always just a modified clone of the Camaro put out by Pontiac. Here’s what the 2021 Camaro looks like in KITT black…

The current Chevy Camaro would probably be the first choice of fans to be the new KITT. However, if they want to make the car the product of some sponsor in order to get financing, they could end up getting this totally wrong. We’ll let you know what the car will be in the new Knight Rider movie, as soon as we can get our hands on that information.

THERE HAVE BEEN MULTIPLE OTHER KNIGHT RIDER MOVIES

The Knight Rider franchise has definitely had its starts and stops. After the initial success of the first series in the 1980s as one of the most popular shows on television, there have been quite a few attempts to resurrect its wild success.

The first happened when David Hasselhoff was brought back in 1991 (the original series ended in 1986) for a TV movie titled Knight Rider 2000. Then things moved on to another TV movie, this one called Knight Rider 2010, which did not include Hasselhoff.

The franchise then moved back to its series format when it became Team Knight Rider. That only lasted one season and was centered around a team of high-tech crime fighters. With that failure, KITT went back into hiding for another decade.

It took ten years, but KITT was revived one more time. This one came in a 2008 movie, aptly called Knight Rider. It saw the return of The Hoff to the franchise and this time he brought a son along with him.

The story mainly focused on the son, bringing in Hasselhoff towards the end, as the TV movie was made as sort of a pilot for the new Knight Rider series that starred Justin Bruening as Michael Knight’s son. He also played the part in the TV movie. Unfortunately, the series was just not that popular, so it lasted only 17 episodes. Of note, Val Kilmer was the new voice of KITT.