The Big Picture
- The producers of The Continental reveal that it was a long and challenging process to develop the perfect story for the spin-off series. They wanted to do justice to the John Wick universe and explore the rich characters and the world of The Continental.
- The Continental takes viewers back to the 1970s in New York City and tells the backstory of Winston Scott, the owner of the assassin’s hotel. Although the series was filmed in Budapest, the producers believe that they successfully captured the look and feel of seventies New York.
- The cast of The Continental includes Colin Woodell as a younger version of Ian McShane’s character, Mel Gibson as the primary villain, and a lineup of other talented actors. The first episode of the three-part series will premiere on Peacock on September 22.
Since news first began circulating a few years ago that the John Wick film franchise would be receiving a spin-off in series form, fans have been counting down the days until check-in. Now that we’re just days away from picking up our keys at the front desk, it’s hard to believe that the premiere of The Continental is almost here. And, although it took a long time for viewers to sit still, the production team’s journey was an even lengthier one. In an interview with Collider’s Christina Radish, The Continental and John Wick franchise producers, Erica Lee and Basil Iwanyk opened up about the long road of building the highly anticipated spin-off series.
“What would surprise people is just how long and how hard and how many frogs we had to kiss to get to the perfect story,” Lee revealed, adding, “It wasn’t a no-brainer. We really wanted to do the world justice.” In the John Wick universe, there are so many rich characters to choose from, Lee says it was hard to narrow down the right personality to follow. “Picking the seventies and the prequel of Winston, a beloved character, and the idea of The Continental as its own character in the movie, we had only just scratched the surface. People would always ask, ‘Well, what does it look like inside The Continental?’ With Basil, myself, and Chad [Stahelski], we always loved that world and really wanted to explore it, so that was how we came to the idea of it.”
The Continental takes place on the gritty streets of New York City in the 1970s and tells the backstory of Winston Scott (Colin Woodell) and how he became the assassin’s hotel owner made famous by Ian McShane in the film franchise. While the story may lean into all the sights and sounds of the bustling streets of Manhattan, Lee discloses that filming for the series actually took place in Budapest. “What’s interesting is that we didn’t shoot in New York,” the executive producer reveals, “We shot the whole show in Budapest.” While it may not have been shot in the Big Apple, Lee thinks viewers will be fooled if they don’t know any better, saying, “I think when people watch it, they’ll be really surprised about that because we really capture the look and the feel of seventies New York.”
Who Else is in The Continental?
Along with Woodell as the younger version of McShane’s fan-favorite character, The Continental sees Mel Gibson stepping into the role of the primary villain. Filling out the rest of the cast is a lineup including Ben Robson, Jessica Allain, Ayomide Adegun, Hubert Point-Du Jour, Mishel Prada, Peter Greene, Nhung Kate, Jeremy Bobb, Ray McKinnon, and Katie McGrath.
Have your reservation in hand when the first episode of the three-part series arrives on Peacock on September 22.