Star Wars: Why the ‘Game of Thrones’ Creators Are Perfect for ‘Knights of the Old Republic’

Today the Star Wars franchise got even bigger, as it was announced that Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are going to be making a new series of Star Wars films!

Unlike the recent announcement of Last Jedi director Rian Johnson’s upcoming Star Wars trilogy, there has been no emphasis from Lucasfilm (so far) that Benioff and Weiss films will be original material. That immediately led us to ask: could the GoT creators finally deliver the Knight of the Old Republic adaptation that fans have wanted for decades?

In this case, fans aren’t just doing some wishful thinking that will never come to fruition: there’s a strong case to be made for why Benioff and Weiss are the perfect choices to bring Knights of the Old Republic to the big screen

Medieval Times

The first reason that anyone would make the argument for Weiss and Benioff being good picks for a series of Knights of the Old Republic movies is the obvious proximity between that Star Wars material and the Game of Thrones series. 

Knights of the Old Republic is just what the title would imply: the story of the ancient times of the Star Wars universe – roughly 4,000 years before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope. That old world in galaxy far, far, away is something we’ve never seen realized onscreen before – so who better to do it than the two guys who already made an ancient medieval world and mysticism relevant to modern times? 

A Whole New World

As stated, Knights of the Old Republic is set in the equivalent of Star Wars‘ Medieval Times. It’s a time period so far removed from any of the official canonized material we’ve seen onscreen so far, that a re-introduction to the entire world of Star Wars would be necessary. 

Weiss and Benioff were tasked with building, explaining, and maintaining one of the biggest fantasy worlds to ever gain mainstream exposure, and have done so incredibly effectively, given the sheer depth of characters, locations, and events littered throughout George R.R. Martin’s novels. If these two can make the world of Game of Thrones palpable to the average TV viewer, they seem wholly capable of doing the same for KOTOR. 

Exciting Politics

One of the biggest accomplishments of Game of Thrones is how the series uses a Medieval fantasy setting as means to tackle themes and topics of modern socio-political importance. Whether it’s notions of feminist empowerment, race, religion, or styles of governing that comparable to our modern political angst, GoT is an old world echo of everything that is currently relevant. 

The TV series has been even sharper and more keen about conveying these modern themes, via the visual platform that’s not available to the books. It would be a impressive feat to do the same for a Knights of the Old Republic series – and a timely one. KOTOR deals with important choices of whether to join the dark tide (Sith army) rising over the galaxy, or the forces of reason and light (The Jedi) rising to resist it. spinning that into the story of how an Old Republic falls would be almost too real and timely.  

Heroes’ Journeys

Since Knight of the Old Republic would be opening up a whole new wolrd of Star Wars adventures, there would inevitably be a whole new set of characters that need to be introduced. Unlike the Skywalker Saga, with its spotlight on “chosen ones” and the like, KOTOR would involve an entire ensemble heroes and/or villains (and those in-between) who all arguably serve as the “main characters.”

Given how well Game of Thrones has managed to balance an ensemble of protagonists (even more so when you include those we assumed would be important – until they got killed!), it stands to reason that Weiss and Benioff could handle an entire set of new Star Wars characters, on both the light and dark sides of the Force. 

Refining the Source

Benioff and Weiss haven’t just done a good job adapting George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones source material to the big screen: they’ve actually made significant achievements when it comes to streamlining the source material for TV, and have even improved upon it, in many cases.

While KOTOR has become an iconic part of the Star Wars (non-canon) Universe, the primary source material (comic books, games) is a bit too flimsy to support an entire series of films on its own. If the material needs to be refined and fleshed-out into something more tight (narratively) and effectively thrilling, then Weiss and Benioff are coming with loads of experience in that very area of development. 

Savagely Epic

Let’s also be honest about why Game of Thrones has been such a big success: it’s not just the long theme-heavy conversations between characters that get fans hyped: it’s the titillating mix of sex and violence, as well! 

No one is expecting Disney-owned Lucasfilm to start suddenly giving explicit Star Wars sex scenes; however, it stands to reason that you don’t get the Game of Thrones guys unless you’re at least considering telling a slightly more savage (but no less epic) Star Wars story. Given the established brutality of the KOTOR era, and the current trend of big franchises offering fans a variety of family-friends and more adult-skewing projects, it would make sense for Lucasfilm to branch things out, launching Johnson’s more family-friendly new trilogy of classic Star Wars adventure, while KOTOR is something scarier and more violent,  in the vein of GoT. 

Branding Boost

Behind-the-scenes, getting Weiss and Benioff onboard for a Knights of the Old Republic films series would be a major branding win for the Star Wars franchise. 

Right now, KOTOR is still pretty popular with the hardcore Star Wars fans who have long been invested in the series, or the gamers old enough to have played through the games back in the heyday of their popularity; however, that’s not enough foundation to support the launch of a major blockbuster franchise. But if the average moviegoer heard that the Game of Thrones guys were making a Star Wars movie that will be more Game of Thrones-y than what they expect from Star Wars? Well, that pitch does pretty nicely in terms of selling itself. 

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Are you hoping Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are making a Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic film series? 

The Star Wars franchise will continue with Solo: A Star Wars Story on May 25th, and Star Wars: Episode IX on December 20, 2019.

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