[Speculation] Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

(Full disclosure, I've posted this before in other threads, but now that spinoffs have their own board I think discussion of a KOTOR film should have its own thread.)

First of all, I'm not talking about the games. I'm not asking for a movie version of the Revan story (though I wouldn't complain if that ever happened)

I'm talking about a movie that fully utilizes the unique setting that is the Old Republic era.

Let me explain, in bullet points:

1. IT FREES THE WRITERS FROM HAVING TO CONNECT WITH OR RETCON ANY PREVIOUS STORY

There's more than 30,000 years of Republic History leading up to the times of the PT, and only a sliver of that has been told (and none of what has been told is officially canonical). A story set in this era would be completely free of any connections, retcons, or forced working-in of characters from previous movies. Also, unlike the Prequels, there's no predetermined ending. Anything can happen. It would essentially be the first time since ANH that we'd be going into a SW movie completely fresh, which brings me to...

2. A TOTALLY NEW VISUAL TONE/A MORE MYTHICAL TAKE ON STAR WARS

Sure, we've already seen through the prequels how much of a difference 30 years can make on how the galaxy looks, but KOTOR could stretch that so, so much further. Perhaps taking some inspiration from Tales of the Jedi, an Old Republic era film could have a much more low-tech, almost Medieval style to it while still featuring the classic SW elements like spaceships and lightsabers and giant cities.

This could extend to the storytelling in addition to the art direction. I imagine a KOTOR film could have a more fantastical, ancient-myth like tone to it, like dusty pages ripped from an ancient tome telling of heroic Jedi and battles of old. I could imagine a Lord-of-the-Rings-Like tone working well for these films.

3.LEGIONS OF JEDI AND SITH COEXISTING: A SCARIER SITH EMPIRE, A MORE HEROIC JEDI ORDER

Speaking of Lord of the Rings, what would you think of a sword battle on the scale of the Battle of Pelennor fields... but with lightsabers? This is something that could only truly be done in this era. Palpatines Empire was pretty much just a regular totalitarian empire that just happened to be (secretly) ruled by a Sith. If you asked a regular civilian at that time what a sith was, they probably either wouldn't know or would tell you they were bad guys they learned about in history class.

A true Sith Empire put on screen would be a quite different beast than the Empire of the OT. The relationship between Sith and their military like the one found in SW:TOR would be an interesting contrast to the relationship between the Jedi Order and the Republic. The Sith would openly run the government, and its people would be ruled by fear of the power of the dark side. Sith generals would command battalions of Imperial troopers as well as an infantry of lightsaber-wielding Sith Soldiers. Unlike the cold, lifeless Empire bound by the Rule of Two like Palpatine's, the Sith Empire of the Old Republic era would represent the full, menacing power of the dark side in all of its terrifying glory.

A greater Sith threat would call for a substantially larger Jedi Order to combat it. The Jedi Order seen in the PT is overly-conservative and pacifistic, made decadent by the thousand years of peace they have seen, too immersed in their own religious theology to look outside and notice the threats piling around them . But here's the thing: the Jedi Order couldn't have started out that way. Perhaps a KOTOR film could portray a more heroic Jedi order, one more popular in the face of the Sith threat, drawing more Jedi trainees into their ranks. Lets see some Jedi who aren't afraid to keep the peace in an appropriately aggressive fashion. The Jedi in this era should be the badass Knights we imagined when Alec Guiness talked of them in ANH, rather than chaste, impotent monks. And finally, speaking of Knights....

4. "KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC" IS A CATCHY TITLE

Seriously, it's perfect. It has a nice flow to it, it drums up images of medieval swashbuckling and grand adventure, and most importantly, it forms a pleasant acronym that phonetically works as a word unto itself. Try it. Try saying "Kotor" to yourself a couple times. It works, doesn't it?

With that, I leave the discussion to you. Thoughts?

 

I recall you posting this awhile back and I liked it then.

Myself? The sequel to the Star Wars Trilogy are the films I've been waiting for since my childhood, but do I think that a series of Old Republic pictures would be the ideal "next trilogy" following the end of the ST.

Lucasfilm's recent de-canonization of the EU now leaves us with a plethora of unknowns concerning the history of both the Jedi and the Sith (think about it, going on just the films and TCW, alone, we actually now understand precious little about the history of the Sith Order, its machinations and its motivations over the course of millennia, and the like). This only strengthens my desire for an Old Republic trilogy (heck, I'd sign on just for the entertaining history lesson, alone!).

And you're right about seeing where the GFFA came from, technologically, too. Good stuff, for sure (like you said, though, just be sure to keep the ships and lightsabers in some form).

I absolutely hope to see it become a reality in the not too-distant future (we're getting younger, none of us!).

 

We probably won't see the old republic on film until after 2020. That being said, I think introducing the old republic time frame would be a perfect way to fill the gap between the ST and the (likely) episodes 10-12 that will come somewhere down the line.

I agree that the sith armies would be a great area to explore. Especially the conflict between individual sith and groups of them. That is something I could see filling up a trilogy of movies or even a TV show.

 

I would absolutely love for a Knights of the Old Republic film sometime in the future! The KOTOR games had some of the best stories ever in the SW EU, IMO. I loved how the story of Revan unfolded, and the various insights into the Force that were only tangentially or minimally explored in the films and other media. I loved the glimpse into a galaxy that existed some four millennia before the events of ANH, a galaxy where a powerful Sith Empire threatened the Republic and the Jedi Order, who served to defend the galactic government like the order of the Knights Templar. I agree, the title KOTOR has a very nice ring to it.

This is definitely one of my favorite eras in the Expanded Universe, and I hope that they will revisit it again someday while providing their own spin on things. An era where the Sith numbered almost as much as the Jedi, with a galaxy torn by war in an epic conflict not unlike a galaxy-scale holy war between two "ancient religions". A visit to the homeworld of the Sith, Korriban/Moraband, introduced into canon thanks to TCW. Plenty of wall-to-wall action involving numerous lightsabers, but also plenty of political intrigue and other elements that makes Star Wars, Star Wars. For example, I'd love to see the ancient Mandalorians fight against the Jedi. In fact, the Mandalorian Crusaders versus Jedi Knights is one of the few events from the Old Republic era overtly referenced in The Clone Wars. Remember what Death Watch leader Pre Vizsla said: "For generations, my ancestors fought proudly as warriors against the Jedi." Just take a look at these two murals depicting a Mandalorian-Jedi conflict:





And another mural in front of the Sundari palace.

Needless to say, I'd love to see these events depicted onscreen, in a live-action format!

 

I'm awfully glad you touched on this.

The idea of Jedi and Sith who are multitude, clashing on huge fields of battle are what many think of when envisioning an Old Republic trilogy (forget a KOTOR movie, I want a trilogy!), and it's easy to see why.

That said, I agree that the story of the Mandalorian peoples and their history of conflict with the Jedi has only been hinted at and is a tale which is crying out to be told on the big screen. Incorporating this chapter into a sprawling KOTOR epic is something which would thrill me to no end!

 

Would be amazing. I've been saying since the announcement of Spin-Off films and possible future trilogies they should do some Old Republic era stuff or Rogue Squadron (RS would make for a better tv show in my opinion).

 

I crave a KOTOR trilogy. It's the perfect way to weave an entire new SW mythos

 

Armies of Jedi and Sith waging war on each other? Heck yeah!

 

I don't know how anyone could be against this idea!

 

Right on. This is the type of thing I imagine in regards to the theatrical canvas of Star Wars being truly expanded, as opposed to stuff like young Han Solo and Boba Fett.

 

I would love for their to be an old republic era film.

I do hope that if they do one, they keep the old EU's explanation for how the dark side cult known as the Sith came to be.

 

I would love to see a Mandalorians Wars based movie/trilogy

 

Part one would easily be the mandalorian war.
Part two could be the return of Revan and Malak & the start of the Jedi Civil War.
Part three could be adapted from the game for Revan's redemption.

A good way the twist could work for Revan's Identity could be to have him as a bit player more in the background that you never see without his mask, or with his hood drawn heavily over his face. 2nd movie you'd never see him without the mask anyways and could end with a cliffhanger with his "death", and then part 3 starts where the game does. Mysterious character wakes up on a republic flagship. Done.

 

That sounds awesome.

 

I think that the origins of the Sith and Jedi should remain a mystery. Let the fans imagine what they want to.

 

Thats the beauty of Star Wars you go back a thousand years and the jedi and sith are still ancient in those jedis eyes.

 

Great stuff there, definitely showcases the potential that this idea has. Just stumbled on another piece from Palpatine's office in Revenge of the Sith:



Seeing events like these brought to life on the big screen could be fantastic if done right.

 

All those parts seem like stories way too big to fit into 3 movies.

 

Truth be told, I don't want the story from the games but I would love a story from the era. Maybe a before Revan was bad story that could be cool lol. Of course in my eyes Revan is and always will be a girl.

 

This. I'm so glad to see some praise for female Revan.

 

I highly doubt anyone would think to make a mere movie version of the games, but even if that did happen, I wouldn't approve of it. The point of RP games is to turn the character(s) you control into whoever and whatever you choose. And though I actually liked the Old Republic: Revan novel, I still had a problem with how things were canonized when they really shouldn't have been! If a Kotor-related film is made it needs to focus on something other than the stories told in both the games. Maybe here and there a comment can be made in reference to something or someone from the games, but outside of that the film should stand on it's own. -Just my two cents...

 

Sorry, but Revan is male

 

I love the idea of a more mythical and darker KOTOR movie adaptation.

In clone wars, they made Darth Bane look very medieval, very warrior like. I think that implies that this vast amount of technology wasn't around for thousands and thousands of years like in the EU.

It'd make more sense thematically this way, you can't have the exact same tech 2,000 years in the future.

While I don't think we'd see a pure KOTOR adaptation, with all characters intact, I do think a grittier, medieval style will be more likely. Perhaps even with Darth Bane making an appearance. Lucas set up that whole backstory of Bane surviving as all other sith died, and creating the rule of two. The rest of it is EU stuff, but the core idea there is Lucas', and because of that I'd think Disney would be interested in adapting that to a film. Mix in KOTOR, which is a very popularr brand, and you could have a mega-hit.

I don't think there will be any full focus on this type of Star Wars series though. Once the ST is complete, I think they'll just perpetuate the series, almost definitely having 12+ "episode" movies. I could see a spinoff slot going to a KOTOR film. But after that, unless it hits a billion dollar mark, I doubt Disney would want to do an immediate sequel, and maybe try other spinoffs as well. If it is a success (which any Star Wars film probably will be), then we might see a sequel to it 4-5 years after the original.

 

I love the idea of Darth Bane and the Rule of Two occuring long before the apparent extinction of the Sith that Ki-Adi Mundi mentions. That way Yoda knowing about the Rule of Two makes sense.

Maybe there could be Star Wars detective stories in which the Jedi try to figure out the identities of Sith Lords and then arrest them.

 

The problem with goign this far out right now is you probably lose a lot of the casual audience.

The spin-off films will explore other characters and elements of the universe but still have to tie into what and the characters people know, connect with and pay to watch.