Star Wars film based on Knights of the Old Republic reportedly in the works

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

While we aren’t quite sure what Disney and Lucasfilm have in store for the galaxy far, far away after THE RISE OF SKYWALKER hits in December (aside from taking a bit of a holiday) we at least now have a better idea of where they may be setting their course. A new report has revealed that screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis has been hired to pen a script based on the beloved Star Wars video game “Knights of the Old Republic,” which takes place 4,000 years before the already “a long time ago” of A NEW HOPE.

[SEE MORE]

BuzzFeed broke the story that claimed the ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL scribe and AVATAR executive producer was hired to write the script for KOTOR as far back as spring 2018, making her the first female writer attached to the series since Leigh Brackett was given co-writing credit on EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

Kathleen Kennedy hinted about the prospect of a KOTOR film last month at Star Wars Celebration, saying “Yes, we are developing something to look at.” She continued, "Right now, I have no idea where things might fall."

The Star Wars series has spawned several famous video games over time, including “Star Wars: Pod Racing,”, “Star Wars Battlefront” and “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed,” but KOTOR is often placed as the best ever released, having a massive fan base. In the game, players play as a young hero brought into to fight back against the Sith, led by the evil Darth Malak. Players can choose from several different classes, and as they travel to different planets and make decisions their fate is soon determined regarding if they stay on the side of the light or venture towards the dark.

The news comes on the heels of the announcement that Disney and Lucasfilm plan to take a three-year hiatus from the movies after THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, with the first movie of a new trilogy hitting in 2022 coming from GAME OF THRONES’ David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Some have speculated that a KOTOR film could be their project (as it involves a lot of characters and a large story akin to GOT), but this news hints that maybe Kalogridis’ script will be a separate project, which could also be the start of a new trilogy.   

[SEE MORE]

The first new movie in the Star Wars saga in a decade arrived with THE FORCE AWAKENS, and since then the studios' plan was to put out a new movie in the series every year. After a rare misfire with SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY, they took a look at their upcoming slate of movies and put a lot on hold, and have since shifted to developing projects for their upcoming Disney+ service, including THE MANDALORIAN, a Cassian Andor show, and possibly more. There's still also the new trilogy supposedly still coming from THE LAST JEDI's Rian Johnson, though news on that has been almost non-existent recently. 

Should they be developing a KOTOR movie separate from the trilogy Benioff and Weiss are doing, it's a sign they are looking to lean heavily back into the movie game. The movies from the two men are slated for every December 2022, 2024 and 2026, so how they would fit in a KOTOR series without going back to their old one-movie-a-year formula is up for speculation. Until Disney and Lucasfilm reveal their plans this is all just a matter of talk for now, but this is a movie fans have been craving for years, so if done right this could be the start of something huge.