HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — NBC has been forced to replace Will Arnett with Val Kilmer as the voice of KITT on it’s upcoming revival of “Knight Rider” due to a conflict of interest. The news comes less than two weeks from the scheduled air date for the series’ pilot.
Arnett, 37, has been the voice of GMC trucks for nearly a decade, but the new KITT car happens to be a Ford Mustang. When General Motors discovered the Ford connection, they asked the former “Arrested Development” star to step down, Variety reports.
“I was very excited at the prospect of playing the part of KITT in the new ‘Knight Rider’ movie,” Arnett told Variety. “However, because of a long relationship with General Motors as the voice of GMC Trucks, I had to respectfully withdraw from the project.”
Kilmer, the 48-year-old star of “Batman Forever,” “Heat” and “Top Gun,” also has previous voice-over experience, including the voice of Moses in the 1998 animated film, “The Prince of Egypt.”
In NBC’s revival of the series that ran from 1982-86, Justin Bruening will star as the estranged son of Michael Knight, Mike Tracer. Deanna Russo will play Tracer’s one-time girlfriend and love interest, Sarah Kamen.
The new two-hour pilot for the series is scheduled to air on Feb. 17.
