Copy of Knight Rider's Talking Car Sold at Hasselhoff Auction

David Hasselhoff poses with a replica of himself built for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, during an auction in Beverly Hills, California. (Reuters)
David Hasselhoff poses with a replica of himself built for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, during an auction in Beverly Hills, California. (Reuters)
TT

Copy of Knight Rider's Talking Car Sold at Hasselhoff Auction

David Hasselhoff poses with a replica of himself built for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, during an auction in Beverly Hills, California. (Reuters)
David Hasselhoff poses with a replica of himself built for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, during an auction in Beverly Hills, California. (Reuters)

A copy of KITT, the talking car from the Knight Rider series and dozens of other memorabilia were sold at David Hasselhoff's auction on Saturday.

The car attracted about 30 bids at an online auction and finally sold for $300,000, according to the auction's website.

The identity of the buyer has not yet been disclosed.

The auctioneer said the fully functional car, which was parked in Britain waiting for a new owner, belonged to Hasselhoff but was not used in the series.

Pieces of clothing and other belongings of Hasselhoff from Baywatch were also among the auctioned memorabilia, most of them sold for several hundreds of dollars.

The dinner offer with the star fetched only $9,000, much less than the expected price of $20,000.

Hasselhoff's fame peaked in the 1980s and 1990s when he starred as a singer in hit TV shows, and was mostly known for his song "Looking for Freedom".

The career of the 68-year-old German actor and singer has faded in the past years.

Hasselhoff promoted "The Hoff" auction on Twitter and Instagram for several weeks. In a video he shared Saturday, he claimed he will allocate a big sum of the auction's revenues for charities.



Japan’s Toho Buys Ghibli Animation Distributor GKIDS to Further Overseas Growth

People take a picture of Godzilla's head at Shinjyuku Toho building at the Kabukicho district in Tokyo, July 30, 2016. (AP)
People take a picture of Godzilla's head at Shinjyuku Toho building at the Kabukicho district in Tokyo, July 30, 2016. (AP)
TT

Japan’s Toho Buys Ghibli Animation Distributor GKIDS to Further Overseas Growth

People take a picture of Godzilla's head at Shinjyuku Toho building at the Kabukicho district in Tokyo, July 30, 2016. (AP)
People take a picture of Godzilla's head at Shinjyuku Toho building at the Kabukicho district in Tokyo, July 30, 2016. (AP)

Toho Co, the Japanese creator of the "Godzilla" movie franchise, will acquire the US distributor of Studio Ghibli's famed animated films, it said on Wednesday, to help drive overseas expansion.

The acquisition comes amid a surge in global popularity for Japanese entertainment, and fits with Toho's multi-year growth strategy centered on animation and overseas markets.

New York-based GKIDS, which distributed Ghibli's Oscar-winning "The Boy and the Heron", will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Toho after the deal, whose terms were not disclosed in statements from both companies.

"We are truly thrilled to be joining forces with the esteemed and storied Toho," GKIDS, which has distributed 13 animated films nominated for Oscars, said in a statement, citing founder Eric Beckman and President Dave Jesteadt.

Toho's own "Godzilla Minus One", a hit in overseas markets, took home an Oscar for visual effects in March, while "Shogun", a historical epic filmed mostly in Japanese, won a record number of Emmy Awards last month for a single season of drama.

Japan set up a committee last month to promote its entertainment industry, which was worth 12.9 trillion yen ($86.43 billion) in 2021, ranking third globally after the United States and China, the cabinet office said.

GKIDS manages the film catalogue of Ghibli, the studio of renowned Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, in North America.

In March, it inked a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to extend the US streaming rights to Ghibli films.