‘Knight Rider’ Races To The Movies In Feature Film From ‘Cobra Kai’ Creators And Universal Pictures
The creators of Cobra Kai aren’t through with legacy 80s reboots just yet. They are about to take a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist. Executive producers of the Karate Kid spinoff, Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald, are turning their attention to Knight Rider at Universal Pictures.
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Per The Hollywood Reporter, they are in talks to helm a film adaptation of the soft sci-fi action series that Hurwitz and Schlossberg could end up co-directing. We have been down this road before as this is only the latest adaptation of the popular series to rev its engine.
Other film versions were pitched or in an early stage of development that never gained traction. Chris Pratt, Danny McBride, and director Justin Lin were once attached to versions of the idea that went nowhere. Aquaman director James Wan also had a reboot in mind that inevitably ran out of gas.
The original series, which ran from 1982 to 1986, starred David Hasselhoff as the titular vigilante Michael Knight. It and the talking Trans Am known as KITT (the Knight Industries Two Thousand voiced by Mr. Feeney himself, William Daniels) are part of what made the Hoff an international sensation, especially in Germany.
He discussed different ideas for a reboot or a legacy sequel with James Gunn and Robert Rodriguez in 2017. The wheels came off quickly in both cases due to busy schedules, especially Gunn’s, which only got fuller.
Knight Rider has had a lasting legacy although nothing comes close to the 80s run. TV movies such as Knight Rider 2000 and the forgotten Knight Rider 2010 served as continuations in the early 90s. Then came the ill-conceived Team Knight Rider later in the decades.
A sequel series was greenlit by NBC in the 2000s which ushered in the return of Hasselhoff as Michael Knight to hand the keys to his long lost son, played by Justin Bruening. Bruce Davison was added to the cast to fill the void left by Edward Mulhare while Val Kilmer was brought in to voice KITT who was upgraded to a Mustang.
That incarnation lasted one season and put the franchise in the garage for the last two decades. Maybe this time, Schlossberg, Heald, and Hurwitz will have the fuel to turn the key and hit the gas on this long dormant revival.
