The new Knight Rider

US soap actor Justin Bruening will fill David Hasselhoff's shoes in a TV update of Knight Rider, according to reports.


Bruening will play the son of Michael Knight, Hasselhoff's character in the original 1980s series, in the two-hour TV movie, the Hollywood Reporter said.

The 28-year-old, who has appeared on soap opera All My Children since 2003, is married to co-star Alexa Havins.

Knight Rider, which ran from 1982 to 1986, saw Hasselhoff's character team up with a talking car to fight crime.

The show spawned two follow-up TV movies and a teen spin-off, Team Knight Rider.

Ratings hit

Hasselhoff, now 55, went on to appear in Baywatch and can currently be seen as a judge on US show America's Got Talent.

Bourne Identity director Doug Liman will executive produce and possibly direct the NBC pilot, which will lead to a TV series if successful.

Plans to revive the show were reportedly given a boost by this summer's sci-fi blockbuster Transformers.
If made, the Knight Rider series will aim to repeat the success of Bionic Woman - another resuscitated title that has proved a ratings hit.

Sourced BBCi: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7079458.stm

I wonder if The Rod would approve? ;)
 
I've been waiting for this for a long time. And Justin Bruening, 28, looks practically genetically engineered to play the part. In some bizarre coincidences, David Hasselhoff was 28 when he landed the role of Michael Knight, and came from a soap opera, The Young and the Restless. He also began his music career with albums being released in Germany, but not the United States, like Bruening is as well. Another bizarre coincidence is that Bruening plays the son of actor Michael E. Knight on All My Children! Regarding the part, the only thing is that Michael Knight never had a son in the series, but I can't imagine it would be too difficult to come up with an explanation for that (let's just hope they don't say it was some one night stand).

NBC Universal is actually truly motivated to make this series as an attempt to derail Knight Rider creator Glen A. Larson's attempt to make a major motion picture. This is possible because NBC Universal owns the television rights to KR and Larson owns the film rights. The reason for this is old contract terms that were created in the 1980s that are still in effect.

However, Larson is not budging and going ahead with his now completed script (quietly locked away in his home to prevent leaks), anyway. The television movie will be a continuation of the original series, and Larson's movie will be a reimagining of the Pilot episode of the original series, "Knight Of the Phoenix." Which means in his version there will be no Hasselhoff playing Michael Knight. Due to the fragile relationship between Hasselhoff and Larson (in a nutshell, Larson's pissed at Hasselhoff for his failed attempts to revive KR without his permission many times in the past), this is another reason why Hasselhoff will most likely not appear in his film. However, a cameo is still a possibility.

As for the car, it still remains a secret because if the name of the company that produces it is released, other companies will try to compete and steal the rights away. Larson's choice for the car was originally intended to be the 2009 Camaro (the Trans Am was discontinued in 2002 and Pontiac has no plans to bring it back), but ideas for that were scrapped when the Transformers film snagged it first. However, Larson has stated that it will still be black, have a red scanner, and will be in the same design spirit of the original '82 Pontiac Trans Am. But once Larson releases his script, the director and producers of the film will be allowed to make changes after the fact.

As for NBC Universal's version, it will begin as a 2-hour telefilm, and if it does well, will continue into a sequel series to the original. The car in this version will also still be named K.I.T.T.; however, it will now stand for the Knight Industries Three Thousand. The car in this version will also do some slight shapeshifting (changing color and being able to slightly change form to resemble cars of the same size), which was inspired by the Transformers film. It will also be equipped with an arsenal of spy equipment for its driver's missions. No word on what car it will be yet, though.

As for Hasselhoff's involvement, he's been trying passionately to become involved in a revival of KR for many years, making the NBC telefilm Knight Rider 2000 in 1991, which did well in ratings, but failed to launch a series. Other attempts to revive KR over the years occurred in 1997 with the series Team Knight Rider, which only lasted a single season. There was also another telefilm, Knight Rider 2010, which had no resemblance to either project aside from its title, which failed as well. As of now, there is no confirmation that Hasselhoff has been able to land a role in either incarnation of the franchise, but has said that "fans will demand it."

The bottom line is that there will be two incarnations of KR, and both projects will be in separate universes and have nothing to do with each other.
 
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So I guess the next question is if William Daniels will continue to voice KITT or not.
 
McDuck said:
So I guess the next question is if William Daniels will continue to voice KITT or not.

Sorry, forgot to mention William Daniels. As of now, there is no confirmation of his involvement in either project, either. However, Glen Larson has said that he is interested in having Daniels be a part of his film any way that he can. I guess it depends on his availability and if he even wants to reprise the role.

alsplacebartender said:
I hope they bring back the black car though - I did not like the red update in the Knight Rider 2000 TV movie.

Same here. I refer to that thing as the big red tomato. :lol
 
alsplacebartender said:
That would be awesome if he did!!

I hope they bring back the black car though - I did not like the red update in the Knight Rider 2000 TV movie.

There was a movie??????? What was I doing in 2000 that I completely missed that one..... Oh thats right, having babies and doing the whole sleepless night thing, no wonder!!!!!
 
Personally speaking, Knight Rider 2000 was the biggest let down of all the films ever seen.

Did you see the supposed wreckage from KITT in the Garbage in the Garage? Hello...Circular Steering wheel??

KITT....RED???? Wasnt He supposed to be sleek, black and totally cool? That concept Pontiac was none of the above...

KITT, installed in a few days into a classic Chevy (By Michael, and btw, since when did He become a Tech Geek??)...Didnt it take Knight Industries engineers months, if not years to complete the original???

One could go on for hours about this film....

Supposedly, the new KITT will look like this:

knight.jpg


However, many, and by that, MANY, have debunked this image of a Koeniggsegg KITT, one possible theory for the image being fake is that Why would the studio give away the image of KITT so readily. Many have theorised that initially as part of teaser trailers/images, a red scanner should be shown...

Who knows, now that there are 2 Knight Rider returns on the horizon, perhaps at least 1 of them will totally rock!






ThundercatsHO.gif
 
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The above image (and every other Photoshopped image of a concept K.I.T.T. that's on the Internet) is fake. Although I will say it's a nice looking poster.

08KITTnew.gif


This picture, however, while also fake, was the closest to what the actual new K.I.T.T. was going to look like for Glen Larson's film version. He originally wanted to use the 2009 Camaro, but as I said above, plans for that were scrapped when the Transformers movie snagged it first. (Which, by the way, was not the actual Camaro, but the shell of it built on another car as it's still in the conceptual stage.) Again, as of now Larson has chosen a new car, but cannot reveal what it is or the company that produces it for fear of having its rights stolen away from competing car companies.
 
QL Nut said:
The above image (and every other Photoshopped image of a concept K.I.T.T. that's on the Internet) is fake. Although I will say it's a nice looking poster.

Yeah....knew it was fake, however it does make a good picture. Cant really see anybody but Pontiac being used, but didnt the Transam stop production in 2002? Wonder if it could be revived because of the film.

Just spotted this as well.....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20071120/en_tv_eo/a3ab7d94_eca54418_b44c_a5d54ee3d8db;_ylt=AhmVqJXA_NkPk0FDbNnJX_ys0NUE
 
McDuck said:
A Mustang???

Not just a Mustang, its the same concept Mustang used in Transformers for Barricade....I thought KITT would be something sleeker though.

And its been confirmed by Ford's PR dept, the scanner was photoshopped though, as the article states they had problems making it work properly.
 
Take that with a BIG grain of salt. Jalopnik.com is not a reliable source, whatsoever. I would only believe statements coming directly from Ford or NBC Universal's Web sites and other statements released by them. It is confirmed that Mustangs will be involved with the Pilot, but NOT that K.I.T.T. will actually be one. It's been admitted that the picture has been Photoshopped (and a very crappy one at that), but there is also no confirmation that the Ford PR department actually made this statement.

It would be unprofessional for Ford PR to confirm this picture is real. Standard PR procedure would be to take measures to deny the authenticity of the rumor. Or, at the very least make a statement saying it's neither confirmed or denied.

And personally, I know this new Knight Rider is only based off of the original series and is supposed to be for a new generation, but the Mustang is such a horrible choice. Not only is there no room for a scanner to not look awkward, but this car is not sleek or smooth like the original Trans Am. But, since Glen Larson (creator of the franchise) is not involved with this incarnation, anyone else just taking it over probably would not share that line of reasoning and pick something silly like the Mustang.

I'm not saying that K.I.T.T. won't end up being a Mustang; I'm just saying that it's unconfirmed at this time.
 
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If I had my choice, I'd pick the Acura NSX Sports Coupe Concept. It's "the car of tomorrow" without a retro look, and looks futuristic enough without being too over-the-top. As I've said on Knightrideronline.com, I think those characteristics should overshadow the fact that the Acura technically isn't an American car.

AcuraNSXConceptKITT.jpg

AcuraNSXConceptKITT2.jpg
 
QL Nut said:
If I had my choice, I'd pick the Acura NSX Sports Coupe Concept.

Ooooooooooo Nicey!! I certainly wouldn't say no if someone offered me a drive in that one, especially if it had a really sexy male Kitt voice.

I wonder how it would look with biccy crumbs, empty chip packets, ripped up books in it, added to by the aroma of spilt bottled milk going sour on the back seats.
 
Knight3000.jpg


Knight30002.jpg


Well, here is the "Attack Mode" version of the Knight 3000. The above pictures of the Mustang earlier in this thread will be the car when it's in a normal cruise mode. The worst thing they could have done was make the car tough, muscular and too aggressive looking, and that's exactly what they did. Not to mention everything on this damn car can be purchased by anyone in customization shops. As with Knight Rider 2000, once again they've completely missed the point. :banghead

On the bright side, however, David Hasselhoff will be returning to reprise his role as Michael Knight, and the original '82 Trans Am will indeed be making an appearance, though from pictures that I have seen on the 'Net, I'm not sure the car will actually be fully intact. The Knight 4000 that was featured in Knight Rider 2000 was originally going to have an appearance in the same garage as the Trans Am, but the director made the last-minute decision that showing the Knight 4000 before the Knight 3000 is introduced wouldn't work logically.

The air date for the upcoming telepic will be February 17th, on NBC. Keep your scanners peeled.
 
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Yet more info on the new show including "Mike Tracer" (Knights Son)........

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35036

Quite like the car actually. They do intend to reinvent the show, as BSG was reinvented, so you cant really expect them to make a carbon copy of the original.

Would be funny if this caused as much of an uproar as the whole BSG nonsense did.....

As a huge KR fan, liking the direction of this new show.
 
I'm going to have to ask my mom to Tivo it for us. We don't get an NBC feed from our puny antenna...learned after install that DirecTV doesn't get local channels in our county. Bah.
 
Here's a clip of the new Knight Rider teaser, which was released by NBC last week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJzqZiiM1BE

While I don't like the fact that they are using a Mustang, I do have to say that the new scanner looks pretty cool. Also, you may catch a glimpse of an analog gauge, but that will be changed in post-production via CGI as the producers are not satisfied with the dashboard yet. Further changes will most likely be made if the telepic leads to a series.
 
As an unexpected chain of events has unfolded, Will Arnett (previously cast as the voice of K.I.T.T.) will no longer be playing the role. This is due to contractual conflicts with his voice-over contract with GMC, which is a direct competitor of Ford. Someone in his camp made the screw-up, and he and the production team thought he was free and clear of any conflicts. News about this came about 1 month ago, but was kept under tight wraps until the production team could find a replacement actor.

As of last night (February 5th), the new choice for the voice of K.I.T.T. is...Val Kilmer! He has now signed a 5-year contract should the backdoor pilot lead to a series.

Here are some new pictures:

Knight30004.jpg


Knight30003.jpg


NewKnightRiderPhoto1.jpg


NewKnightRiderPhoto2.jpg


NewKnightRiderPhoto3.jpg


NewKnightRiderPhoto4.jpg
 
ziggysego said:
A little aged.....? lol

Like fine wine, not milk!!

He didn't look his best in Deja Vu, but i suspect that was for the role. I checked out his website after posting the above and I must admit he still looks rather dishy!! Wish I did!!! therefore I would really like to see him in Knight Rider, not just hear his voice.
 
Well, I watched the new Knight Rider tonight. I was skeptical about KITT being a mustang - but I have to say I loved the pilot!

Spoiler Alert! (highlight to read)
I liked the camo, lots of the cool new features, and I just knew at the end they were going to roll out of a semi trailer - but when they backed out of an airplane, I was impressed.


The Hoff's appearance was short - but I'm sure he'll be back on occasionally. Also enjoyed Val Kilmer's voice as KITT.

Now, why could they not have brought back Quantum Leap in the same way?
 
I liked it too. It will be interesting to see if it gets picked up of a season or not.

alsplacebartender said:
Well, I watched the new Knight Rider tonight. I was skeptical about KITT being a mustang - but I have to say I loved the pilot!

Spoiler Alert! (highlight to read)
I liked the camo, lots of the cool new features, and I just knew at the end they were going to roll out of a semi trailer - but when they backed out of an airplane, I was impressed.


The Hoff's appearance was short - but I'm sure he'll be back on occasionally. Also enjoyed Val Kilmer's voice as KITT.

Now, why could they not have brought back Quantum Leap in the same way?
 
I'll be honest, I was only half paying attention to the Knight Rider premier, but wasn't too impressed. Same with Bionic Woman, I just personally can't get into these remake of old shows.

Now, remake 'Punky Brewster', and 'ALF', that would be great. :p
 
Overall, I enjoyed the new telepic. It averaged 12 million viewers and it's all but guaranteed that it will be picked up for the Fall schedule, which will be announced by NBC in May.

I found Val Kilmer's voice to be much more similar to William Daniels', but his performance felt undeniably flat. Then again, classic K.I.T.T. hadn't developed a "human" personality yet in the original pilot, either. The plot wasn't overly complex (and that's exactly the way it should be) and it was fast-paced enough where the action felt similar to 24 at times.

Still, I can't help but get the feeling that they still held back. The lack of Turbo Boost and Ski Mode was disappointing, to say the least. The morphing effects were pretty cool, though. But aside from the fact that the car hardly did anything as in Knight Rider 2000 besides hack into satellite/security systems, I was also very disappointed with the dashboard. The producers stated in interviews that the iPhone was a big inspiration, but that means that the dashboard turned out to be 95 percent bland and stock-looking. In fact, the only high-tech feature on the entire dashboard was a computer screen, which was also used for K.I.T.T.'s voice modulator (which I did like).

The humor and fights were good, and all in all they did do the original series justice by being the best attempt to duplicate the magic that the original had. I enjoyed seeing classic K.I.T.T. in the background of the garage, too, as a quick eye might have been able to catch in the darkness of the garage:

KITTComplete.jpg


Time to bring on the series! :kitt: