The screenwriter of the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic considered the possibility of its adaptation. Knights of the Old Republic originally debuted for XBOX and Microsoft Windows in 2003. The game is a prequel to all existing Star Wars films, which take place 4,000 years before the rise of the Empire, when the Galactic Republic finds itself under siege by the armada of the Sith Lord Darth Malak. . The player assumes the role of a Jedi tasked with helping defeat this powerful enemy by traveling to different planets with a scoring system that allows them to join either the Light or Dark Side of the Force.
“Knights of the Old Republic” has been well received by both players and critics, and is one of the least controversial works in the “Star Wars” canon in the 21st century, along with projects such as the first season of “Mandalorian”. well-designed locations and intriguing characters, many have long wanted the Knights of the Old Republic storyline to be adapted for the film. In fact, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy had previously hinted that the studio was mulling the idea during a Comic-Con panel back in 2019. However, after that, the news subsided, leaving the fate of the film “Knights of the Old Republic” in question. air.
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Drew Karpishin, the author of the original Knights of the Old Republic game, recently hosted a Reddit AMA. During the AMA, a fan asked about a potential movie, but Karpishin said he didn’t want it to happen. The writer claimed that due to the ramified narrative of Knights of the Old Republic, adapting it to a suitable film run time would require “cutting 80% of the story.” Karpishin suggested that the series might be the best option, but also quickly rejected the idea. Read his full quote below:
“I don’t want them to make a KOTOR movie… not if these movies will just tell the same story as the games. SO MUCH content that you would have to cut 80% of the story to fit it into a movie.Maybe it could have turned out like a TV series, but even then I think it would have been problematic… But if they knock on my door and throw a fat bag of cash on my bandwagon, I’ll probably change my tune.”
Karpishin is certainly right that the complex plot of the game would be difficult to adapt effectively to another environment, given the hours of play and branched stories in the original Knights of the Old Republic. However, the game turned out to be a canon in the Star Wars universe with references to its storyline laid out in The Mandalorian, including references to the infamous hunter-killer droids from KOTOR. This is likely how the legacy of the game will continue; it’s the theme of Easter eggs in the wider Star Wars universe, not in a separate project.
In addition to those pointed out by Karpishin, another significant obstacle to a potential movie or TV series “Knights of the Old Republic” is the fact that “Star Wars” does not often re-adapt past stories. Although new franchise projects will include characters or plot elements from previous parts of the universe, they are usually intended to fill in gaps in pre-existing canons, such as the recent Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ show. A movie adapted from the game would break precedent and possibly even disrupt the continuity of the universe if any major changes were required. However, as Karpishin says, perhaps one day the price will convince him to make a movie “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic”.
