The Continental: From the World of John Wick

The Continental: From the World of John Wick (or simply The Continental) is an American crime-action drama television miniseries developed by Greg Coolidge, Kirk Ward and Shawn Simmons that serves as a spin-off and a prequel in the John Wick franchise. Coolidge and Ward served as showrunners for the series and wrote the scripts alongside Simmons and Ken Kristensen. Albert Hughes directed the first and third episodes, and Charlotte Brändström directed the second. The show stars Mel Gibson and Colin Woodell.
The series premiered on September 22, 2023 on Peacock in the United States, and on Amazon Prime Video internationally.
Premise
The Continental: From the World of John Wick tells the background story of how Winston Scott, in an alternate history 1970s, came to his position as proprietor of the New York branch of "The Continental" chain of hotels, safe havens for legal assassins on the grounds of which no business may ever take place. It explores variations on real-world events, including the Winter of Discontent and the American Mafia's rise to economic power.
Cast
Main
Mel Gibson as Cormac O'Connor, who runs the Continental of New York during the 1970s.
Colin Woodell as Winston Scott, a Scottish-American businessman who has been living in London for decades; Ian McShane portrays an older version of the character in the main John Wick films.
Fflyn Edwards as Young Winston
Mishel Prada as KD ("Kady") Silva, a detective sergeant new to New York City, who is searching for the Scott brothers.
Ben Robson as Francis Patrick "Frankie" Scott, Jr., an assassin who is Winston's older brother, Yen's husband, and a Vietnam War vet.
Ben Robinson as Young Frankie
Hubert Point-Du Jour as Miles Burton, a gunrunner, who is also Vietnam War veteran, and son of deceased High Table assassin Hieronymus Burton.
as Yen Scott, Frankie's wife and a former assassin and failed suicide bomber.
Jessica Allain as Lou Burton, an amateur karate practitioner with a dislike for guns, Miles' younger sister and Hieronymus' daughter, who is unaware of his assassin past
Ayomide Adegun as Charon O'Connor, Cormac's surrogate son, who seeks for Cormac to bring over his biological father from Nigeria; Lance Reddick portrayed an older version of the character in the main John Wick films.
Jeremy Bobb as Mayhew, KD's partner, with whom she is having an affair.
Peter Greene as Uncle Charlie, a long time family friend of the Scott family; David Patrick Kelly portrayed an older version of the character in the first two John Wick films.
Supporting
Adam Shapiro as Lemmy, an associate of Miles
Katie McGrath as the Adjudicator, a judge of the High Table
Mark Musashi and Marina Mazepa as "The Twins", Hansel and Gretel, assassins with a room at the Continental.
Kirk Ward as The Henchman, the Adjudicator's bodyguard
Ray McKinnon as Gene Jenkins, an assassin associate of Lou's, whose eyesight is failing.
Zainab Jah as Mazie, who took charge of and was proclaimed queen of the Bowery
Dan Li as the Orphan Master, a local crime boss who comes to blows with Lou over her father's legacy.
Chris Ryman as Ronnie, one of Uncle Charlie’s men.
Episodes
Production
Development
While planning the story for John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum in January 2017, Derek Kolstad and Chad Stahelski were also conceiving ideas for a prequel story, suggesting that a prequel would be best told in the form of a television series. In June 2017, the series was confirmed to be in full development, and the story would be called The Continental, focusing on the hotel that acts as a safe haven for assassins in the John Wick universe. Lionsgate gave the project an official green-light in January 2018 and planned for the series to air on its Starz network. Initial reports indicated Chris Collins would serve as showrunner.
Stahelski initially planned to direct the first episode of the series and stated that it would serve as an origin story for several of the characters in John Wick. In April 2021, Kevin Beggs, chairman of Lionsgate Television, said the team wanted to make sure that the series would add to the world-building of the John Wick universe without inhibiting any plans for future films. After hearing multiple pitches from different creative teams, Lionsgate settled on the approach presented by Greg Coolidge, Kirk Ward, and Shawn Simmons; and the format of the show was re-worked into an event series of three 90-minute episodes following a young Winston in the 1970s. The series was originally intended to comprise ten episodes; however, later the decision was changed in favour of the three episodes. Coolidge and Ward were named the new showrunners with additional executive producing help from Shawn Simmons, Paul Wernick, and Rhett Reese; and Albert Hughes and Charlotte Brändström were hired to direct.
Casting
In October 2021, the cast members were announced, starting with Mel Gibson, and followed by the rest of the lead cast including Colin Woodell as young Winston Scott from the main John Wick films. Additional casting announcements in November 2021 revealed that Peter Greene and Ayomide Adegun would portray younger versions of Uncle Charlie and Charon, respectively, and Jeremy Bobb was cast as a new character named Mayhew. In February 2022, roles were announced for Katie McGrath as the Adjudicator, Ray McKinnon, Adam Shapiro as Lemmy, as well as Mark Musashi and Marina Mazepa as Hansel and Gretel.
Filming
Principal photography began in November 2021 in Budapest, Hungary.
Post-production
In April 2023, the series working title of The Continental was finalized as The Continental: From the World of John Wick.
Music
Raffertie was revealed to be composing the score for the series in April 2023. A soundtrack album for the series was digitally released by Lakeshore Records on September 22, with a vinyl edition set to be released on October 20.
Release
On August 15, 2022, Starz sold the series to Peacock. In March 2023, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Joe Drake stated that the series was expected to be released in late 2023, also saying that the episodes were "nearly finished". In July 2023, it was announced that the series would premiere on September 22, 2023, on Peacock in the United States, and on Prime Video internationally.
Reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, The Continental: From the World of John Wick has an approval rating of 63% based on 75 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8 out of 10. The website's general consensus reads, "The Continental: From the World of John Wick offers some stylish action, although it'll be most satisfying for hardcore fans invested in further franchise world-building." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the show a score of 53 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter found it to be a decent show, apart from the casting of Mel Gibson. Han felt that the rest of the cast had good chemistry, and intriguing backstory was introduced for some characters. She felt the format of the show had upsides and downsides, claiming that it was a bit too long for a film, yet too short to be a satisfying series. Likewise, the surrounding city felt constrained by its TV budget, and the intricate fight scenes were better than average for television, yet still fell short of the film levels.
References
External links
2020s American crime drama television series
2023 American television series debuts
American action television series
American prequel television series
American thriller television series
American television spin-offs
English-language television shows
John Wick
Live action television shows based on films
Peacock (streaming service) original programming
Television series by Lionsgate Television
Television series set in the 1970s
Television shows filmed in Budapest
Television shows set in New York City
2020s American television miniseries