It’s confirmed — popular action flick franchise John Wick will live on in the form of a three-part, limited TV series, with Mel Gibson at the helm.
The Continental, produced for Starz by Lionsgate Television, will center around the mysterious hotel-for-criminals that has eventually become the focal point of the John Wick franchise.
It will reportedly “explore the origin behind the hotel-for-assassins through the eyes and actions of a young Winston Scott, who is dragged into the Hell-scape of a 1975 New York City to face a past he thought he’d left behind,” according to Variety. It will also include real-world events, such as the rise of the American mafia and the Great Garbage Strike.
Gibson will go on to play the role of Cormac, a new character in the John Wick universe. It will be Gibson’s first regular television role since his career started in the 1970s.
Other confirmed cast members include Collin Woodell, Hubert Point-Du Jour, Jessica Allain, Nhung Kate, Mishel Prada, and Ben Robson. Executive producers Greg Coolidge and Kirk Ward are set to serve as writers and showrunners. Thunder Road Pictures’ Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee, Stahelski, Kolstad, David Leitch, Shawn Simmons, Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese will also serve as executive producers.
Lionsgate TV’s Kevin Beggs told Deadline the reason behind the formation of a prequel.
“It’s got such a great mythology and such interesting style, and the gun fu approach of these incredibly poetic stunt esthetics is just out of this world, which is why the movie with Keanu Reeves – who is so amazing in everything he does but particularly compelling as John Wick in our mind – it just cries out to be something in TV,” he said. “Just like the Marvel Universe and the DC Universe from a TV perspective are incredibly opportunities, and that is our superhero franchise in the family.”
No further details have been announced about the plot or characters. A release date has yet to be confirmed.
Art Daniella Sison
