David Hasselhoff is eager to bring Knight Rider to a modern audience, and he wants Guardians Of The Galaxy’s writer and director James Gunn to oversee the reboot, too. So much so that he has repeatedly been pestering the filmmaker with ideas for the film, to which he insists Gunn has responded positively.
Hasselhoff, who starred as Michael Knight during Knight Rider’s four season run between 1982 and 1986 on NBC, already has a clear vision for what he wants from the potential film. Instead of being “spoofed” like 21 Jump Street and Baywatch, he wants James Gunn’s potential version to truly honor the original, which revolved around an undercover police officer and his futuristic talking car named KITT.
“I’ve given some ideas to James for Knight Rider, and he responded in a big way,” David Hasselhoff told The Hollywood Reporter. “If it does go forward, I don’t want it to be spoofed like Baywatch or 21 Jump Street. Those films lose what it’s about, and you have to respect the fans.”
David Hasselhoff has had plenty of time to chew James Gunn’s ear off about a potential Knight Rider reboot, too, as the duo previously worked together on Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2. In the Marvel blockbuster Kurt Russell’s Ego momentarily turned into David Hasselhoff, which was a reference to the fact that Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) had always pictured his estranged dad looking like the Baywatch star.
James Gunn even directed David Hasselhoff in the music video for Guardians Inferno. An homage to music TV shows of the 1970s and 1980s, Guardians Inferno sees Hasselhoff singing along to the closing credits song for Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2. The Guardians themselves – Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Michael Rooker and Pom Klementieff – also made cameos, which you can check out below.
Unfortunately for David Hasselhoff the critical panning of Baywatch earlier this summer, and its underwhelming domestic box office performance, means that studios will now be more skeptical about rebooting Knight Rider. However, off the back of Guardians Of The Galaxy’s combined gross of $1.634 billion, James Gunn might just have enough clout to convince a studio it’s a good idea. Only once he’s finished with Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3, though.
