A carmaker conflict has caused NBC to hire Val Kilmer to replace Will Arnett as the voice of KITT on its “Knight Rider” revival, reports Variety.
Arnett (“Arrested Development”) had already completed his part for the pilot, which is slated to debut on NBC on Sunday, February 17 at 9/8c. Producers Doug Liman, Dave Bartis and Dave Andron — along with the network and studio — were all fine with his performance.
For the better part of a decade, however, Arnett has done voice-over work for General Motors — as the voice of GMC Trucks. NBC’s new “Knight,” however, is “played” by a Ford Mustang.
Not surprisingly, when GM found out about the Ford connection, it asked Arnett to pull out.
“I was very excited at the prospect of playing the part of KITT in the new ‘Knight Rider’ movie,” Arnett said. “However, because of a long relationship with General Motors as the voice of GMC Trucks, I had to respectfully withdraw from the project.”
