There’s a little more grist for the Old Republic being the subject of an upcoming Star Wars film – and that a Star Wars film may have a woman screenwriter for the first time in decades. Buzzfeed News reports that Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island, Alita: Battle Angel) is writing a film based on the Star Wars video game Knights of the Old Republic. It’s possibly the first film in a trilogy, their sources say.
The last woman to have a screenplay credit on a Star Wars film was Leigh Brackett, who developed early versions of The Empire Strikes Back.
This isn’t the first time KOTOR has come up in the context of the post-Skywalker world – Kathleen Kennedy seemed very open to the concept last month, and there’s a shaky rumor that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were heading in that direction as well.
Buzzfeed says Kalogridis was brought on last spring. They don’t say which of the currently announced filmmakers Kalogridis would be working with – if any. The initial announcements for both Benioff and Weiss – who we know are helming the 2022 film – and Rian Johnson say they’re doing their own writing, so Kalogridis’ film could be something completely separate, or perhaps the plans have changed.
A straight adaption of the game seems unlikely, but even something inspired by it would be welcome among a large group of fans who played the games. (Well… Maybe. With this fandom, you never know.)