Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Movie Reportedly in the Works

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is being adapted for the big screen, according to Buzzfeed, which reports that the popular game and comic book series will be the basis of a trilogy of movies. Screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island, Alita: Battle Angel) is currently in the process of finishing the script for the first installment, per the outlet.

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy previously confirmed that the studio was working on something related to Knights of the Old Republic: “Yes, we are developing something to look at. Right now I have no idea where things might fall, but we have to be careful that there is a cadence to Star Wars that doesn’t start to feel like too much.”

Buzzfeed’s report follows another rumor that the trilogy of movies to be helmed by Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will take place in the Old Republic era, which is set thousands of years before the events of A New Hope, a time when massive Republic armies led by Jedi Knights fought back the villainous Sith Empire as well as a Mandalorian invasion force. 

It was confirmed earlier in May that the Thrones duo would not only write and produce a new trilogy but also direct the first installment, which could mean that Kalogridis’ project is something completely separate from those movies. In fact, Buzzfeed’s report suggests that’s indeed the case.

Disney announced a full slate of release dates through 2027 that included three untitled Star Wars movies, starting in 2022 and continuing in 2024 and 2026. These are understood to be the Benioff and Weiss films.

This could mean that Lucasfilm is actually less gun shy about releasing new Star Wars movies than originally suggested by Kennedy at Celebration Chicago in April. The Lucasfilm head confirmed at the time that the movies would be going on hiatus for “a couple of years” after the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in December. Kennedy told EW that Lucasfilm would be taking the time to figure out what the 2020s would look like for the franchise.

“We’re not just looking at what the next three movies might be, or talking about this in terms of a trilogy. We’re looking at: What is the next decade of storytelling?”

There was also some speculation that the poor box office performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story, the last standalone film released, had convinced Disney to pump the brakes on yearly Star Wars installments and shift back to an “event” approach, meaning bigger gaps between installments (or, in this case, trilogies). 

Buzzfeed’s report throws all that into question, though. Add the Rian Johnson trilogy, which we’ve heard little about since it was first announced in 2017, to the mix and that’s three separate Star Wars trilogies in the works. Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed in May that there were six new installments in development, which doesn’t completely account for all of these projects but suggests that Knights of the Old Republic is the basis of one of two announced trilogies.

Regardless of who is working on the Knights of the Old Republic movies, fans will likely rejoice that this era of Star Wars is finally being explored on the big screen. The Old Republic era was first introduced by Dark Horse’s Tales of the Jedi comic series, the brainchild of writer Tom Veitch, before reaching new heights in the 2003 BioWare RPG, the critically-acclaimed Knights of the Old Republic, which itself spawned a sequel titled The Sith Lords, a comic book series of the same name, and the still-active The Old Republic MMORPG.

The first game tells the story of Revan, who is thrust into a chaotic war between the Republic and the Sith Empire led by Darth Malak, a grotesque villain hellbent on taking over the galaxy in the aftermath of the bloody Mandalorian Wars that split the Jedi Order in half. Along the way, he meets a gifted Jedi named Bastila Shan, who can influence whole armies with the power of the Force, and completes the Jedi Trials. Revan’s journey eventually leads him to a confrontation with Malak, but not before learning a dark secret about his past that forever changes his life.

In case you haven’t played Knights of the Old Republic, it’s the best Star Wars game ever made. While it’s unclear how faithful the movies will be to the games, or if they’re simply taking the name and the setting, now’s a good time to relive this classic or play it for the first time.

We’ll, of course, keep you updated as we hear more about the movie. 

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9.