Ever since Lucasfilm first announced that they would make spinoff movies in the Star Wars galaxy, many fans have been clamoring for a project that would focus on the Knights Of The Old Republic. Their wishes may soon be granted, as a new report indicates that Lucasfilm has hired a screenwriter to bring that era to life on the big screen.
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BuzzFeed is reporting that Shutter Island and Avatar writer Laeta Kalogridis has been hired by Lucasfilm to write a script based on Knights of the Old Republic, the popular video game that took place at least 4,000 years before the events of the main Star Wars saga.
According to sources familiar with the project, Kalogridis is close to finishing the first script of what could be a new trilogy of Star Wars films. This isn’t exactly shocking, as Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy previously told MTV News at Star Wars Celebration that such a project was in development.
“Yes, we are developing something to look at,” Kennedy said about a potential Knights of the Old Republic film. “Right now, I have no idea where things might fall.”
There is no word yet on if this has anything to do with the planned series of films by Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff or the trilogy being developed by Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson. But from the limited information we have, it sounds like this is a new series of films separate from those projects.
According to the report, Kalogridis was hired in 2018 to develop the project. And because of her own script, this likely shoots down the rumor that the Game of Thrones guys will set their trilogy in that same era.
A source for Star Wars News Net told the fan site that he was “approached about working on the next movie this Autumn. It is not the Rian Johnson trilogy, it is the Game of Thrones guys’ first movie, and it is 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.”
Fans will likely respond well to this news, as many have been clamoring for more content exploring the era of the Old Republic ever since the games by BioWare were released. Lucasfilm has made some small references to that canon over the years, but aside from licensed comics and books they’ve yet to expand on the stories established in the games. That looks like it will change in the near future.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premieres in theaters on December 20th. The next Star Wars film after that is dated to be released in December 2022.