‘Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic’ Script Might Be in The Works [Updated]

One of the 10 Star Wars spin-offs we at Screen Rant want to see is an adaptation of Knights of the Old Republic, the first installment in what has become of the largest video game properties under the LucasArts branch. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic released for the PC and original Xbox back in 2003 and remains one of the best Star Wars stories ever told. It’s based 4,000 years before the events of the Star Wars films in a time where Jedi and Sith are commonplace in society.

The game was a success in the eyes of fans and critics, and not long after its release there were rumors it could be adapted by Lucasfilm, potentially launching a movie series that would be entirely separate from the core Star Wars saga. Outside of the prequel trilogy, 3D re-releases and the animated Clone Wars series, the franchise film began to fade until last fall when Disney acquired Lucasfilm and began planning out what’s going to be an even bigger Star Wars saga going forward.

The latest scoop on that front – if we can call it that – comes from a mysterious and unsubstantiated email Harry Knowles of AICN received from what sounds like someone at the game developer BioWare, claiming that writer Drew Karpyshyn (of BioWare fame), one of the more popular writers of the video games industry, may be developing a screenplay for a Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) movie, based off the game series of the same name which he also helped write. Knowles’ last scoop about Yoda being the first character to get a solo Star Wars film has since proven false, and this scoop similarly has nothing official going for it.

Karpyshyn was the lead writer on Mass Effect 1 & 2, the first three Mass Effect novels, Jade Empire, Neverwinter Nights, Baldur’s Gate II and has written five Star Wars novels. He arguably wrote the best parts of the Mass Effect series and Mass Effect 3 suffered in terms of story without him. Really, he’s partly responsible for the greatest games in the developer’s library, but he retired from BioWare just over a year ago to pursue other projects, including screenwriting.

With Disney now in charge of Lucasfilm a decade later and planning to bring the brand back to the forefront with an annualized film franchise (similar to Marvel Studios) and a willingness to develop standalone Star Wars movies outside of the episodic saga, them tossing around ideas to eventually adapt KOTOR and potentially its sequels (KOTOR 2 and The Old Republic MMO) is expected at this point.

Are execs at Lucasfilm and Disney considering Knights of the Old Republic as one of the many potential projects to develop for the Star Wars franchise? Yes, of course they are. There are five films already confirmed in development (Episodes 7-9 and Han Solo and Boba Fett spin-offs) and it’s likely that other hit Star Wars games like Shadows of the Empire and Force Unleashed are others at the “idea” stage as well.

That being said, KOTOR has a lot more going for it than a Yoda film and it’s a safe bet that players of the game(s) would much rather see the former realized if it came down to one over the other. The question is, would Disney want to invest in a film or series of films that are similar to the main saga, but entirely separate ? Would that be too confusing for moviegoers if KOTOR came out in between the main episodes?

[Like I said here and on Twitter, this isn't true, verified by Drew Karpyshyn.]

Star Wars Episode 7 will hit theaters in 2015.

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Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes for your Star Wars movie, TV and video game news.

Source: AICN