The High Republic era is the new focus of Star Wars storytelling, stemming from Project Luminous, but while exciting it's also bad news for anyone still hoping for a Knights of the Old Republic movie. With the Skywalker saga coming to a divisive end courtesy of J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, there's now a lot of talk about what the future of Star Wars will look like. On the movie side of things that's still rather uncertain, with no new Star Wars movie slated for release until December 2022, but Disney and Lucasfilm have ambitious plans when it comes to other mediums.
While the High Republic era is new, it had once been speculated that another part of the Star Wars timeline that a future movie might visit would be the Old Republic era, and more specifically an adaptation of - or at least a story inspired by - the hugely popular Knights of the Old Republic series. It was reported last year that an Old Republic movie was in the works from Avatar producer Laeta Kalogridis, and that was eventually followed by more recent rumors of a KOTOR movie & TV show being in the works.
In the light of the Star Wars: The High Republic announcements, however, it's probably safe to assume that a Knights of the Old Republic film isn't on the agenda for Disney and Lucasfilm, at least not in the more immediate movie future. Although The High Republic is currently focused on the publishing side of Star Wars, with a range of comics and novels planned, as opposed to movies, there's a great chance that if successful the project could be carried over to the big screen and Disney+. Whether that comes to pass or not, it's clear that The High Republic is the era Lucasfilm is focused on for Star Wars, which reduces the chances of them revisiting the Old Republic at the same time.
The two eras are different - the High Republic is just a couple of centuries before the Skywalker saga begins, whereas the Old Republic goes back thousands of years - but it's not hard to see some inspiration of the Old Republic within what the High Republic is doing. The stories, characters, and settings are new, but going to an older time and a landscape filled with Jedi Knights lends at least a surface level similarity, as does the name High Republic, and some of the designs carry an Old Republic influence. Many Star Wars fans may know the difference, but it'd likely be somewhat confusing to make a big push on two different but similarly-named eras of Star Wars so close together.
The Knights of the Old Republic is still a title that appeals to many longtime Star Wars fans, and it's one with great storytelling potential in some form, be it a movie, a Disney+ series, or more video games. And it may well happen too, later down the line. But looking ahead to Star Wars' future and the movies that are in development - one from Kevin Feige, and reportedly one from J.D. Dillard - it doesn't seem fitting with Disney's approach that they'd decide to make a KOTOR movie around the time they're making such a huge High Republic push.
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