"Do the announcement then leak everything you've done so far/make the repository public to make the project open source or only make the announcement once the game is in a state it can be released in" is what you should have said. After that happens you might be barred from working for the copyright owner, but other companies might notice you, like the AM2R guy that got hired to work on Ori 2!
Personally, and I say this as a huge fan of KotOR, I don't see any point what so ever in a remake. The original is not so dated that it's unplayable. And unlike Baldur Gate which got the enhanced edition I don't think KotOR needs that boost to be played by younger players.
It’s never worked for me too well on PC. If I recall it doesn’t have native widescreen support or something. It made the UI difficult to navigate. I love the game and played it on Xbox originally, but typically gave up tweaking it on PC. Was looking forward to the remake; I’d pay for the convenience. But I get what you’re saying.