“Knight Rider.” Few titles can instantly conjure up such a pure 1980s sugar rush: neon-lit highways, David Hasselhoff’s perm bouncing in the California breeze, and, of course, the smug-yet-smooth voice of KITT—the indestructible talking Trans Am that made Siri look like a Speak & Spell. Now, Universal Pictures seems ready to get KITT roadworthy again, with the “Cobra Kai” brain trust steering the comeback.
Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg and Josh Heald—the minds behind Netflix’s karate revival saga—are in early talks to give “Knight Rider” a cinematic spin. Hurwitz and Schlossberg may even jump in the driver’s seat to direct, while the trio will also produce through their Counterbalance Entertainment banner. They’ll be joined by Kelly McCormick and David Leitch (fresh off The Fall Guy), whose 87North banner is also onboard, along with Gary Barber and Chris Stone through Spyglass.
For the uninitiated, “Knight Rider” ran on NBC from 1982 to 1986 and came from the prolific mind of Glen A. Larson. The show followed Michael Knight (Hasselhoff), a leather-jacketed lone crusader “in a dangerous world,” who relied on KITT—an artificially intelligent, wise-cracking car. Together, they took down corporate bullies and ruthless gangs, making sure that the average American didn’t get steamrolled by moustache-twirling villains with too much money and not enough taste.
The franchise has since multiplied into TV movies, a short-lived reboot, video games, novels, and even KnightCon—a convention dedicated to fans of the Hoff, the Hoff’s chest hair, and of course, KITT. But a proper cinematic reboot has been idling in development limbo for years, with a previous script from Kevin Burrows and Matt Mider gathering dust in the garage.
With the Cobra Kai crew now tightening the seatbelt, the new take remains locked tighter than KITT’s turbo-boost system, but it’s fair to expect their trademark mix of nostalgia, tongue-in-cheek swagger, and a surprising emotional engine under the hood. And if their karate soap taught us anything, it’s that they know exactly how to revamp a cult classic without stripping its soul.
Universal’s Matt Reilly and Tony Ducret will oversee the project for the studio. No casting has been confirmed yet, though let’s be honest: if Hasselhoff doesn’t at least cameo, fans might just activate self-destruct mode.
It’s still only ‘in talks,’ but here’s hoping we’ll soon see those iconic red scanner lights glowing on the horizon.
