Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn says he’s talked to Knight Rider star David Hasselhoff “many times” about reviving the property.
Guardians of the Galaxy franchise director James Gunn has revealed his interest in reviving Knight Rider, the ’80s action series starring David Hasselhoff as an itinerant crimefighter with a specialized sportscar housing an A.I. system.
Responding to a query about which “super machine” television show from the 1980s he would like to reboot — Airwolf, Knight Rider or Street Hawk — Gunn tweeted, “My friend [David Hasselhoff] and I have discussed doing a modern continuation of Knight Rider many times. The primary hurdle has been there aren’t enough hours in the day to do all the cool things I want to do!”
My friend @DavidHasselhoff and I have discussed doing a modern continuation of Knight Rider many times. The primary hurdle has been there aren’t enough hours in the day to do all the cool things I want to do! https://t.co/Gy24aG4hzc
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) January 1, 2022
Hasselhoff starred in Knight Rider as Michael Knight, a former police officer who becomes an operative for a private criminal-justice outfit, the Foundation for Law and Government. F.L.A.G. provides Knight with a Pontiac Trans Am run by an A.I. system called K.I.T.T., for “Knight Industries Two Thousand.” The vehicle is self-locomotive, virtually indestructible and tricked out with numerous gadgets including flame throwers, ejector seats, magnesium flares, lasers, tear gas, microwave jammers, security scanning capability and more. The A.I. has its own personality (originally voiced by William Daniels) and converses with Knight throughout their adventures during the show’s original four-season run on NBC from 1982 to 1986.
Directed by Gunn, 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy stars Chris Pratt as spacefarer Peter Quill, also known as Star-Lord. In the 2017 sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, it is revealed Quill was a fan of Knight Rider as a boy. Raised by his mother, Quill carries Hasselhoff’s photo in his wallet, pretending to others and himself that Hasselhoff was the father he didn’t know, rationalizing his absences as happening because of his filming the TV series or pursuing his music career in Germany. Later in the film, Quill meets his true father, Ego, the Living Planet; Hasselhoff makes a cameo as one of Ego’s guises. The series’ next film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, is scheduled for a May 5, 2023 theatrical release.
Knight Rider spawned three TV movies, the spinoff Code of Vengeance in 1985, and two revivals, Team Knight Rider in 1997 and 2008’s Knight Rider. Of these, Hasselhoff starred only in the 1991 TV film Knight Rider 2000.
Fast & Furious franchise director Justin Lin was attached to a digital series version of Knight Rider for NBCUniversal and the Machinima digital studio in 2016. More recently, a Knight Rider theatrical film was announced to be in development in 2020, with a screenplay by video game writer T.J. Fixman. No director was named for that project.
KEEP READING: Guardians of the Galaxy Director Suggests Vol. 3 Trailer May Not Arrive This Year
Source: Twitter
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As a long-time comics fan and one-time aspiring artist, Kelvin Childs is happy to be a contributing writer for CBR. He writes stories about comic books, movies and TV shows that are chock-full of behind-the-scenes lore and stuff you didn’t know about your favorite characters, programs and films. He watches most of the Arrowverse shows, enjoys DC Extended Universe and Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, and likes comics from Marvel, DC and other companies equally. He has worn different hats in his career, including features editing for Gannett News Service and Newhouse News Service, dealing with TV coverage and music coverage, movie reviews, humor columns and political commentary. He also was a freelance copy editor for BET’s YSB (Young Sisters and Brothers) Magazine. Follow him on Twitter at @Kelvin_Childs