Fans have even dreamed of a big screen adaptation of KOTOR, dreams that have largely gone unrealized … until now. The first ever live action, feature length realization of Knights of the Old Republic is finally here in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - Escape from Taris! Helmed by Austin Parenti, the Executive Director of Studio 70 at King’s Academy in West Palm Beach,, Escape From Taris has taken the online fan community by storm, giving fans hope for KOTOR but also resparking the demand and conversation around.
For the first time Parenti discusses the production process and narrative decisions in the movie. This is the final installment of a three part article series: Part I focusing on the production side of everything, Part II focusing on breaking down the film, and Part III focusing on our inner Star Wars fans. While the interview has been edited for length and readability, seen in its entirety here. You can also watch Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - Escape From Taris here!
Josh Eisley: KOTOR is somehow iconic but also somehow a cult classic. If Dave Filoni said he was going to do something with KOTOR, what would you tell him? How would you place that in the greater conversation of Star Wars?
Austin: My first thing to Dave would be: "Good freaking luck." I don't know what you could possibly do that would actually satisfy the fans, both because of how high expectations are and because of how much Disney has burned fans in the past. There's an insane amount of criticism that's automatically leveled at anything Disney releases. Even a genuinely great adaptation might not be able to overcome that. If they were to do something with the pre-existing narratives, my best recommendation would be a Knights of the Old Republic animated show, multi-seasoned. You could get the original voice actors, follow the script very closely since there's no shortage of time, and Clone Wars and that kind of media has done really, really well. That would be the ideal landing point. But I genuinely don't know how it would go over.
Josh: I'm inclined to agree. There's a large portion of people who would automatically write it off simply because it comes from Disney — and I hope it's well-intentioned protectiveness. I enjoy most of the Disney-era Star Wars because there's more I like than I don't. Though there are definitely things I can't stand - my cousin and I always joke about "there are more of us!"
Austin: I forgot about that, oh my gosh.
Josh: Is the plan to do episode two next May 4th and episode three the year after?
Austin: Yeah. We're calling the next one Search for the Star Forge — that'll cover Kashyyyk, Manaan, Tatooine, and the Leviathan. Three tentatively is something like Revan Reborn or Return of Revan, covering [ Korriban, the Unknown World] and the Star Forge. People have asked about doing KOTOR II. I don't know that I'm the right guy for that. In hindsight it's like wine, I've liked it better with time and I think if it came out without the first game I would actually like it more. But the fact that everything Revan worked for, Knights 2 comes along and says every Jedi is dead and you don't know where Bastila is unless you get the right cutscenes. It's so bleak. What was the point of the first game if that was ultimately the result? If someone were to do a Knights II movie it should be someone who actually really loved that game.
Josh: I can't do a playthrough of one without doing two. I like that it challenges the idea of the Force - what if you had a force wielder who hates the Force? Although I genuinely cannot stand Kreia. That is a hot take of mine.
Austin: I love the philosophy of that game. I kind of agree about Kreia being long-winded. I think if it had taken place 300 years after Knights one I would have accepted it more, but it runs too close and kind of destroys the whole purpose of the first game in some ways. The Revan novel tried — and I agreed with everything you said in your article.
Josh: Is there a theme or scene in Star Wars that resonates with you the most?
Austin: Return of the Jedi, Luke and Vader's relationship, the confrontation with Palpatine, and ultimately when Luke says "I've got to save you" and Vader says "You already have." Every time I think of that I still get chills. The parallel in Knights is also really beautiful. The scene where you're confronting Bastila for the first time on Rakata Prime, and Jolee is demanding that you turn back. This man who's been so stubborn and snarky with you the whole time, and you kind of actually believe at that point that he doesn't care about you. And then for him to show his love for you in how forceful he's being demanding you reject her offer, that always gets me. I'm really excited to film that scene for our own trilogy. And then teasing that out with Bastila's redemption, it's kind of the inverse of Luke and Vader. Both are about love, but father-son versus something closer to a confession of love. The redemption of a loved one always resonates with me most.
Josh: The older I get the more I see the beauty in Vader's redemption. The part that always gets me is where he says "You were right about me," you can tell he's happy about that. And I never saw Jolee that way before, that's him showing he cares about us by telling us to rebuke Bastila. I can't wait to see Jolee in the trilogy.
Austin: He's the man. Him and HK make for a very amusing couple of hours.
Josh: What's one thing you hope people take away from the trilogy when it's completed?
Austin: I'll give it to Jolee. One of the most important things he gives you is the inverse of what the prequel trilogy says. The prequel trilogy's theme is that passion leads to the dark side — Anakin's obsessive love towards Padmé, his inability to let go of what he fears to lose, leads to his and her demise and their children suffering. If you don't watch carefully, the prequel trilogy kind of says love destroys. Jolee has an amazing sequence in Knights one where he tells you about his wife and says that "the Jedi with their dogmatic moral code will tell you that love is something to avoid. But thankfully anyone who's even partially alive knows that's not true. Love itself will save you, not condemn you." He makes that differentiation between passion, eros, lust, and true love. And that's embodied in the fact that you can only really save Bastila with a confession of love. The light-side ending for Knights one is the direct inverse of the Anakin-Padmé situation, and it's beautiful. It's the gospel. So I hope people walk away from the trilogy knowing that love saves, love never condemns.
Josh: As a man of faith, how does that influence how you watch and interpret Star Wars?
Austin: I think it's not only Star Wars I think it's all stories. All stories follow a very similar progression. The world of the main character starts out in a state of balance — everything's good, not great, not perfect, but fine. Things go wrong, the world goes out of balance, they go on an adventure to try and get back to that state of balance, resolving not in a cycle but in an improved state. In screenwriting we call that the new balance. Everything from the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Iliad and the Odyssey down to Lord of the Rings and Knights of the Old Republic follows that arc. I think the reason is not just that it makes you feel good. More metaphysically, I think it's because that story is the true story all human beings are currently living through, and when we see it on the screen it resonates because it's true. There was once a situation for humanity called the Garden of Eden, it was good, balanced, with room for improvement. There's an unbalance — the Fall. A quest to get back through David, Solomon, and the kings of old. The climax was Christ coming and dying and resurrecting so that one day we can inherit a new and greater Eden. When stories depart from that arc, they don't satisfy because they're just not the truest story. Star Wars has had such a lasting cultural impact because it is so symbolically aligned with the story of humanity. Star Wars is more true than many documentaries.
Josh: Austin, this was great. I appreciate your time and there are two other whole movies to do. I hope we get to do this again down the road.
Austin: Dude, this was such an honor. First time ever being asked about one of my projects in a formal interview like this. It was a delight to actually process it out loud.
The time, passion and effort put in by Parenti and the King's Academy community is truly a labor of love - not only for KOTOR but for Star Wars!. Austin is a fine repreentation of what empassioned fans can accomplish, and thie writer belives Disney would do well to take notice. There is plenty left to see in the uncut interview, so after viewing the accomplishment of Escape From Taris, you can catch the full unedited interview at the Spaceport on YouTube.