Hollywood Out Of Ideas: Talking Cars Edition
Not too long after they announced their reimagining of Welcome Back Kotter as a starring vehicle for Ice Cube, the Weinstein Company once again declares its intention to plunder the beloved televised entertainments of our youth with today's news that it will give Hasselhoffian masterwork Knight Rider a deeply unnecessary update. Reports THR:
[Series creator Glen A.] Larson has bandied about the project for years. "A number of people wanted to do a pure comedic send-up of it, but I always felt that would throw away the franchise," he said. "There was always some humor on the show, but this film will probably have more gallows, foxhole humor.
"I had a meeting with Harvey, and I could tell he had just seen the two-hour pilot for the series." he said. "We agreed the film would be a darker, edgier version of the series, somewhere between 'Knight Rider' and 'Sin City.' "
Somewhere, Seann William Scott's agent is placing a very difficult call to tell his client that he can stop shopping for tight jeans and a black Members Only jacket. But while it's a momentary relief to discover that the ironic adaptation option is off the table, do we really need a "darker, edgier version" of a series that was essentially a Moonlighting-style romantic comedy about the frustrated—but very real—love between a man and his sassy, vehicular soulmate? At this point in their careers, we're willing to bet that Harvey Weinstein can even make a more literal connection between the two series, and get Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd to play the hero and his car, staying true to the lighthearted spirit of the original show.