knight rider

Well, no sooner did we learn that David Hasselhoff had approached Robert Rodriguez about reviving The Hoff’s original claim to fame, ‘Knight Rider,’ in a dark, ‘Logan’-inspired revival– with Hasselhoff reprising the lead role as Michael Knight– than we have learned of other plans.  The Weinstein Company appears to have obtained the rights to the property and they want John Cena and Kevin Hart in the lead roles of a comedic big screen reboot.

 

 

The original TV series aired on NBC from 1982-86.  Hasselhoff played Michael Knight a former policeman named Michael Long, who was injured in the line of duty.  After some plastic surgery, he was given the new name Michael Knight and dispatched by a secret government organization called FLAG (Foundation for Law and Government) to fight crime, armed with just his wits, fists and a Pontiac Firebird with artificial intelligence named KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand).

The Weinstein Company wants Cena to portray Knight and Hart to provide the voice for KITT.  This approach is intended to be a comedic spin, similar to ’21 Jump Street’ directed by Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum.  This formula worked for this film and its sequel ’22 Jump Street’ but just this year, ‘CHIPS’ and ‘Baywatch’ (the latter of which is also based on a Hasselhoff hit from yesteryear) fizzled at the box office.  Is it possible that ‘Knight Rider’ can succeed where those reinventions failed?

Hart is one of the biggest comedy stars in Hollywood right now and one of the only stand-ups that can open a live concert movie.  He has also been successful in hits like ‘Ride Along’ and ‘Ride Along 2’, ‘Think Like A Man’ and ‘Think Like A Man Too’, ‘The Wedding Ringer’, ‘Get Hard’ (with Will Ferrell) and ‘Central Intelligence’.  (A third ‘Ride Along’ has been announced.)  He appears next in the ‘Jumanji‘ reboot with Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy”s Karen Gillan.

John Cena is most known for being the biggest wrestler in the WWE, but he broke through as a comedic actor in the Amy Schumer comedy ‘Trainwreck’ and went on to appear in ‘Sisters’ opposite Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and ‘Daddy’s Home’ with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg.  He branched out into drama starring opposite Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Doug Liman’s military film ‘The Wall’ and he is currently filming the ‘Transformers’ spin-off ‘Bumblebee’.

Keep in mind, neither Hart nor Cena has actually been cast, but they are The Weinstein Company’s top choices at this point.  As far as we know, there is not even a script or director attached, so by the time all that happens– IF it happens– there may be newer, hotter stars the studio may seek out.

Last year, ‘Fast & Furious’ director Justin Lin was attached to create a new TV version of ‘Knight Rider’ while a few years ago, Chris Pratt and Danny McBride were said to be in the running for another comedic film version.

How does this version of ‘Knight Rider’ sound?  Would you prefer a comedic spoof or a darker, more action-heavy interpretation?

Source: Screen Rant