Starz's 'The Continental' Series Is Avoiding Conflicts With The 'John Wick' Movies [TCA 2020]
Starz first announced plans for a series set in the John Wick universe in January 2017, one year after the success of John Wick Chapter 2 in theaters. There have been sporadic updates on the series at each TCA and this year was no exception.Starz President and CEO Jeffrey Hirsch gave an executive session for the Television Critics Association and /Film asked for an update on The Continental.
The Continental is careful to avoid the movies
Starz's ambitious plan was to have The Continental air concurrently with the feature films. The show would focus on the Los Angeles Continental hotel and a new assassin character. Keanu Reeves could appear as John Wick and is committed to executive produce the series. Film franchise director Chad Stahelski is attached to helm the pilot."We like the group of writers and we're just trying to get it into the right place so that it doesn't interfere with the motion picture side of the house," Hirsch said. "But we're excited about the progress that the team is making."That comment suggests the world of John Wick may be more intricate than originally thought. Carmi Zlotnick, Starz President of Original Programming, told /Film the show and the movies would be separate. However, the world of the Continental gets bigger with each sequel. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum introduced Halle Berry's character Sofia, The High Table's Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon), The Elder (Taghmaoui) and The Director (Angelica Huston). As they write John Wick 4, perhaps they're finding the movies cover more ground they don't want to cede to the series.
They’ve got the first season of The Continental
Another part of Hirsch's update confirmed that the writers and EPs have pitched the first season of The Continental."I came from a meeting, a season pitch on that, yesterday," Hirsch said. "It's moving along."John Wick fans would surely like it to be further along than that. It's been two years since the announcement and we're still years away from the series.
The Continental won't be ready before John Wick 4
Last summer's update was that The Continental wouldn't be ready before May 21, 2021, when John Wick 4 hits theaters. That's still the timeline."I think it will be some time after the fourth movie, yeah," Hirsch confirmed.This could be good for the series. When Starz announced The Continental, there were only two John Wick films. They were successful, but the third film was the biggest hit yet. That means there's room to expand it into television. The success of the film franchise means there's no rush for The Continental.