Peter Sallale 
wallup.net
In what will be welcome news to longtime Star Wars fans, a film based on the classic Bioware game Knights of the Old Republic is reportedly in the early stages of development. According to BuzzFeed News, the project is being written by Laeta Kalogridis, the screenwriter behind films such as Shutter Island and James Cameron’s Avatar. While the fanbase has been clamoring for sometime for an adaptation of the game for the big screen, it remains to be seen whether the film will be a direct adaptation of the game, or if it will simply be based on the title/era.
Knights of the Old Republic, or “KoTOR” for short, was released in 2003 and received widespread praise thanks to its story, characters, and its uncharacteristically high-quality; which was unexpected of licensed games at the time. Set thousands of years before the original Star Wars trilogy, the setting allowed Bioware a great amount of creative freedom with which to create a compelling story. It spawned two sequels, Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (2005), a single-player RPG like its predecessor; and Star Wars: The Old Republic (2011), an MMORPG set roughly 300 years after the previous two games. The Old Republic is currently the only remaining “Legends” work (referring to any expanded universe material rendered non-canon following Disney’s acquisition of the franchise) to still be in active development.
It has been speculated for some time that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ Star Wars trilogy was going to return the fan-favorite KoTOR era to the series’ canon. If these rumors hold true, then Kalogridis is likely working together with the two former Game of Thrones showrunners to develop the screenplay for the first film in the trilogy.
Since the day KoTOR was declared “Legends” and excised from the canon, Star Wars fans have been eagerly anticipating its return. Should Buzzfeed’s report be accurate, there will be much rejoicing in the Star Wars fandom, which went through a fair amount of turmoil following the divisive The Last Jedi and the poor box office performance of Solo. A Knights of the Old Republic adaptation might be just what the fanbase needs.
