Warm up the 1982 Pontiac Trans Am — and also, KITT’s vocals: Justin Lin and Machinima have teamed to bring back ’80s NBC classic “Knight Rider.”
Lin will produce through his YOMYOMF; NBCUniversal Brand Development is also on board. The new “Knight Rider” could launch in 2017, the companies said Tuesday in a joint announcement.
“‘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 Machinima CEO Chad Gutstein. “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.”
Machinima has revived quite a bit of beloved IP, also producing “Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome,” “Mortal Kombat: Legacy” and “Mortal Kombat: Legacy 2,” “Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist” and “Street Fighter: Resurrection,” and “Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.” Combined, those series have received more than 300 million views on Machinima.
This won’t actually be the first time someone’s tried to bring back “Knight Rider” — the concept was one-and-done in 2008 at NBC. Here’s hoping this one has better staying power.
Machinima touts itself as the first global many2many programming service focusing on fandom and gamer culture.