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'Knights Of The Old Republic' Project In Development, Kathleen Kennedy Confirms

knights of the old republic movie
By Hoai-Tran Bui/

The Star Wars universe is only going to get bigger after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker closes out the Skywalker Saga this December. And for Lucasfilm, that means returning to a few beloved stories that have never yet been adapted to the big or small screen. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, in a somewhat uncharacteristically frank answer, confirmed that a long-rumored Knights of the Old Republic project is in the works.

Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy confirmed that a Knights of the Old Republic project is in the works, stoking rumors that an adaptation of the popular video game series could soon be making it to the screen. In an interview with MTV, Kennedy responded in the affirmative to reporter Josh Horowitz's question whether a Knights of the Old Republic title was in the works. "We talk about that all the time," she said, adding:

"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."

Kennedy went on to cite Lucasfilm's attempt to release one film a year with the back-to-back releases of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Solo in 2017 and 2018, which they will pull back on, aligning with reports that the studio will take a hiatus from Star Wars films following the release of Episode 9. "But it doesn't mean we don't think about lots of different stories because that's the exciting thing about this universe," Kennedy said, further teasing Knights of the Old Republic. Watch her full answer in the video below.

Kennedy's confirmation adds credence to the recently circulated rumor that the Star Wars films that Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are developing will be a Knights of the Old Republic adaptation. The filmmakers' experience at crafting a rich, character-driven story out of a sprawling high fantasy setting lends itself to that rumor, as the story of Knights of the Old Republic takes place 4,000 years before the foundation of the Galactic Empire and shares similar mythic elements to Game of Thrones.

This may be an era that Lucasfilm is eager to explore after the time period surrounding the events of the Skywalker Saga has been done to death in both TV and the Star Wars Story films. Kennedy has hinted too that Rian Johnson's mystery Star Wars trilogy could take place during the Old Republic era, telling Entertainment Weekly, "As [Benioff and Weiss] finish Game of Thrones, they're going to segue into Star Wars. They're working very closely with Rian."

Could the new sagas and film trilogies explore the Old Republic? Or could this era be something that Lucasfilm is planning to expand in the Disney+ series? Recent rumors also suggest that Disney is planning to release animated feature films based on the old Star Wars Legends stories — something akin to the well-received DC Animated Movies — so that could also be a possibility. We'll have to wait and see.

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