Whenever a new “Star Wars” project is hinted at, whether it be a spin-off film or TV series, pretty much the first question you’ll hear from fans is “Will it be ‘Knights of the Old Republic?’” When Rian Johnson was announced as developing a trilogy of his own, fans asked about ‘Old Republic.’ Same for the announcement that DB Weiss and David Benioff are developing films. Disney+ doing live-action “Star Wars” series? “Oh, I wonder if it’s ‘Knights of the Old Republic?’” Well fans, you should be excited because Kathleen Kennedy has confirmed that the creative minds at Lucasfilm are looking at the ‘Old Republic’ story for potential projects. So, can you stop asking about it?
Speaking to MTV at Star Wars Celebration, Kennedy was asked if any of the new projects were related to “Knights of the Old Republic?”
“You know we talk about [‘Knights of the Old Republic’] all the time,” Kennedy said. “Yes, we are developing something to look at. Right now, I have no idea where things fall, but we have to be careful that there is a cadence to ‘Star Wars’ that doesn’t start to feel like too much.”
Now, the “Star Wars” fans out there will take that quote and run with it, exclaiming that the studio is for sure, without a doubt, most definitely, 100% making a “Knights of the Old Republic” trilogy that will come out in 2022. But honestly, what Kennedy says is far less committal than that. Sure, Lucasfilm knows fans want ‘Old Republic’ stories, but all she says is they are “developing something to look at.” That’s far from a confirmation.
Also, later in the interview, she says that they’re always looking for ways to expand the film franchise, but have to be careful about oversaturation. And if you really read between the lines, it sounds like Kennedy is saying that ‘Knights of the Old Republic’ is something that would exist outside of the “next 10 years” that Weiss, Benioff, and Johnson are plotting out now.
Now, if you have no idea about what I’m talking about, then sorry, let’s get you up to speed. As you might gather from the title, the stories that fall under the “Knights of the Old Republic” banner take place thousands of years before the current iteration of “Star Wars.” The stories feature various Sith and Jedi fighting it out. But the real allure for big-time “Star Wars” fans are all the various stories that have been adapted from that era of the lore have felt different and feature some of the most interesting characters from the franchise. Basically, if you’re not going to talk about Skywalkers, fans would really, really like to see this.
Obviously, we’re probably a good year or more away from any firm plans about the future of the franchise, as ‘Rise of Skywalker’ doesn’t arrive until December and the brain trust at Lucasfilm hasn’t even begun work on the “next 10 years” as they have called it. But hey, maybe it’ll end up as the next big Disney+ series?
#Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy talked to us about the future of #StarWars – including a Knights of the Old Republic movie and female filmmakers taking the helm, as well as Palpatine’s surprise return in the trailer for @StarWars #EpisodeIX pic.twitter.com/HCjEhdlRv7
— MTV NEWS (@MTVNEWS) April 16, 2019