A Knights of the Old Republic Star Wars film is reportedly in development at Lucasfilm.
The report from BuzzFeed News notes that Lucasfilm has brought on Laeta Kalogridis to write the screenplay. Their report indicates that Kalogridis is “close to finishing the first script of a potential KOTOR trilogy.”
Kalogridis has done quite a bit of work recently. She wrote the screenplay for Alita: Battle Angel. She’s also the creator on Netflix’s Altered Carbon series. Previously, she wrote Terminator Genisys, Shutter Island, and Alexander. She also worked on The CW’s Birds of Prey television series. She will also be writing the Sword Art Online television series.
Rumors about an Old Republic movie surfaced in March when a source told Star Wars News Net that Game of Thrones writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ upcoming Star Wars film would be “set during the Old Republic, as Disney wants to open up the Star Wars timeline and appeal to a more ‘Game of Thrones’ style audience.” That same source indicated filming would begin in the Fall. The source noted, “art departments are in design phases now as the script is being finalized.”
Disney announced three untitled Star Wars films that would be released in 2022, 2024, and 2026. They have not gone into detail about the films. Disney CEO Bob Iger did state that the next Star Wars film would belong to Game of Thrones writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
Iger stated at the MoffetNathanson Media & Communications summit:
“We did a deal with David Benioff and D.B Weiss, who are famous for Game Of Thrones, and the next movie that we release will be theirs. And we’re not saying anything more about that.”
When Star Wars first announced that Benioff and Weiss would be creating a series of Star Wars movies they made it clear they would “write and produce a new series of Star Wars films.”
Buzzfeed’s report does not indicate whether or not Kalogridis will be collaborating with Benioff and Weiss or The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson. Star Wars had previously announced Johnson would be working on his own trilogy. Although recent rumors indicate his trilogy might have been scrapped. Johnson disputes those rumors claiming they have no legitimacy.
With this new report, it fuels theories that Benioff and Weiss might only be working on a single Star Wars film. Iger only mentions the next movie will be theirs. He doesn’t indicate they have any plans further than that.
It’s possible this whole report from Buzzfeed might have actually been floated by Disney and Lucasfilm to see what kind of interest there is in telling stories in the Old Republic. Disney does appear to be making some significant moves in how they manage the Star Wars franchise.
In a recent piece in Vanity Fair promoting J.J. Abrams’ upcoming The Rise of Skywalker film, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy discussed the shift in attitude for the Star Wars franchise.
“I think there is a larger expectation that Disney has. On the other hand, though, I think that Disney is very respectful of what this is, and right from the beginning we talked about the fragility of this form of storytelling. Because it’s something that means so much to fans that you can’t turn this into some kind of factory approach. You can’t even do what Marvel does, necessarily, where you pick characters and build new franchises around those characters. This needs to evolve differently.”
It’s also possible Star Wars and Lucasfilm might have quite a bit more up their sleeves in turns of films and television series than they are letting on. Iger recently indicated the film franchise would be taking a hiatus, but he also noted they have movies in development.
“There are movies in development, but we have not announced them. I think we are going to hit pause, and take some time to reset. Because the Skywalker saga comes to an end with this ninth movie. There will be other Star Wars movies, but again I think we’re going to end up in a period where there will be a bit of hiatus.”
My theory is that while Disney announced three new Star Wars films for theatrical release, it’s quite possible they might have others planned to release exclusively on their upcoming streaming platform Disney+. It’s not unprecedented as they’ve already announced they will be releasing their live-action version of Lady and the Tramp on Disney+. If this is the case it would join their announced TV series The Mandalorian and the Cassian Andor and K2-SO spin-off. Other Disney+ TV series rumored are Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Another idea is that this might not actually be a film script, but rather a TV script. Kalogridis does have something of a hit on her hands with Netflix’s Altered Carbon.
Knights of the Old Republic
For those unfamiliar with Knights of the Old Republic it’s one of the most well-loved role-playing games ever created. The original game would not only go on to spawn a sequel game, but also an entire MMORPG in Star Wars: The Old Republic.
The game was originally released in 2003. It would take place almost 4,000 years before the formation of the Galactic Empire. It saw the world of Star Wars descend into war as the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Malak launched an invasion of the Republic. The player must venture across the galaxy in order to defeat Malak and discover their true identity. The game featured Tatooine, Dantooine, Kashyyyk, Korriban, Manaan, Rakata Prime, and Taris.
The game would feature the Jedi Academy, the Star Forge, Swoop Racing, a card game called Pazaak, and much more. The timeline is full of rich characters that include Revan, Bastila Shan, Carth Onasi, Mission Vao, Zaalbar, HK-47, Jolee Bindo, T3-M4, Canderous Ordo, Juhani, Trask Ulgo, and more.
What do you make of this new report about a Knights of the Old Republic adaptation?