Lionsgate TV chairman Kevin Beggs confirmed a prequel to Keanu Reeves’ John Wick franchise titled The Continental. The prequel will take place 40 years before the John Wick universe, focusing on a young Winston, the owner of the famous hotel for assassins played by Ian McShane in the films. Beggs also spoke about the unusual format of the series in an interview, revealing that The Continental will have only three 90-minutes episodes.
According to reports, there were different pitches but the makers at Lionsgate TV finalized on the current plotline as they did not want the spinoff to impact the future big-screen installments in any way. The winning pitch came from the creative team of the show Wayne, a YouTube Premium exclusive.
Lionsgate TV’s Kevin Beggs Talks Indie Studio’s Expansion, Deal Strategy, Covid Impact, ‘The Continental’ Details & ‘Saw’ Series Rumors https://t.co/VqeZlMfYiP
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) April 23, 2021
Beggs said in the interview, “We (Lionsgate TV) were really blown away because it solved a bunch of problems and was super exciting, about a crumbling New York in the 1970s with a garbage strike that has piled up bags of garbage to the third floor of most brownstones, the mafia muscling in on that business which is why in The Sopranos he’s in the sanitation business, and other things that are really real as an interesting backdrop to explore the origins of The Continental which is famously within the movie franchise the assassin’s hotel in which you cannot kill anyone on the hotel grounds, but of course if you step one foot off you’re fair game, and that’s employed to great effect in many of the plots in the movies. Running all of that is Winston.”
Beggs also spoke about the unique structure of The Continental and said, “What we’re exploring in The Continental is the young Winston and how it came to be that he and his team of confederates found their way into this hotel which we have met for the first time in the movie franchise 40 years later. That’s the arena. I won’t give away more than that, but Starz really leaned into this take also, and they have been great collaborators. And how we’ve approached this first season is as three essentially 90-minute events which you could construe as a limited series or a limited event series.”
Since the show will be a limited series prequel, Keanu will not appear on screen but is reportedly going to executive produce. The series is set to air on Starz but does not have a release date in place. As for the John Wick franchise, the fourth film is scheduled for release on May 27, 2022.
(Source: Deadline)
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