The beloved ’80s television series about a secret agent and his artificially intelligent, indestructible car is returning as a digital series with Fast and Furious franchise (and Star Trek Beyond) director Justin Lin serving as the show’s producer. The live-action series is targeting a 2017 premiere on the digital video network Machinima.
The announcement of the new Knight Rider didn’t reveal any details about the direction the show will take the series, which has already spawned multiple spinoff series, reboots, and television movies over the years. The project will be the product of a partnership between Machinima, NBC Universal, Lin, and Lin’s production company, YOMYOMF.
The original Knight Rider series premiered in 1982 and ran for four seasons, chronicling the adventures of David Hasselhoff’s Michael Knight, a former police officer who’s saved from a near-fatal shooting and given a new identity in order to fight crime as “a lone crusader in a dangerous world.” Michael Knight’s savior is billionaire Winston Knight, who teams Michael up with the Knight Industries Two Thousand (a.k.a. “K.I.T.T.”) — a modified, artificially intelligent Pontiac Firebird Trans Am with a cornucopia of high-tech weapons and other gadgets.
“Knight Rider is an iconic franchise whose concepts of AI and autonomous vehicles were science fiction in the 1980s and are now science fact,” said achinima CEO Chad Gutstein in a statement accompanying the announcement. “Justin is one of the leading storytellers of his generation and we couldn’t be more excited to work with him on re-invigorating Knight Rider for a new generation of fans.”
The initial announcement of the project didn’t indicate whether Lin would direct any episodes of the series, or suggest that a cast or creative team was attached to the project at this point.
While it might seem a little surprising to see such a well-known property head to a digital platform, Machinima has an impressive track record with its live-action digital series so far. Previous live-action digital series appearing on Machinima include Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, two seasons of the well-received Mortal Kombat: Legacy, and Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.
There’s no specific premiere date set for the series at this point.
