By M&C Smallscreen Feb 7, 2008, 16:19 GMT
A conflict between car sponsors has caused NBC to hire Val Kilmer to replace Will Arnett as the voice of KITT on its "Knight Rider" revival.
Val Kilmer - © Lee Roth / RothStock / PR Photos
Variety reports that Arnett ("Arrested Development") had already finished the voice-over for the movie, a back-door pilot which is slated to debut on NBC in less than two weeks.
Producers Doug Liman, Dave Bartis and Dave Andron -- along with the network and studio -- were thrilled with his performance.
Unfortunately Arnett had a contractual conflict of interest. Arnett is the voice of General Motors -- voice overs for GMC Trucks.
NBC's new "Knight" is a Ford Mustang.
Because Ford is also taking an active role in the marketing and branding of the pilot for a possible series. Ford's logo are on the NBC promos too.
When GM got wind of this and about the Ford connection, Arnett was "asked" 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."
With NBC and Universal Media Studios scrambling to replace Arnett's dialogue with Kilmer's, Val has plenty of experience and has done lots of voice-over work, including the voice of Moses in 1998's "The Prince of Egypt."
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