Keanu Reeves to appear on John Wick TV series for Starz

Tim Karan
Lionsgate
Go wake up your puppy.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Starz announced a partnership with Lionsgate TV to develop The Continental, a TV series set in the world of the John Wick movies. But that's not all: Keanu Reeves will serve as an executive producer and appear as the hitman he portrayed in 2014's John Wick and last year's John Wick: Chapter 2.

Although it's not clear how much Wick will factor into the show, Starz head of programming Carmi Zlotnik said, "you can expect to see him at some point of the series."

The series will center on the exclusive Continental Hotel which serves as a refuge for assassins in the movies, and Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said "the show and the movies exist side by side." He also teased that it'll have the same high-octane action of the films. "This series is truly unlike anything else on TV," he said. "It promises to include the thunderous fight sequences and intensely staged shootouts between professional assassins and their targets that fans have come to expect in the John Wick movie franchise as well as introducing some new, darkly compelling characters who inhabit this underground world."

Chris Collins (The Wire, Sons of Anarchy) is writing the series and he'll serve as showrunner. John Wick director Chad Stahelski will helm the first episode and franchise screenwriter Derek Kolstad is also on board.

http://www.looper.com/104741/k...john-wick-tv-series/

Glad to see the production heads will be grounded in realism. I hate television shows that try to mimic the level of action in movies and somehow manage to make every action sequence look like something out of Sharknado.

Damn, just when I was starting to pare down my must watch television shows.

Excellent

Looking forward to this.

I wonder if any other characters/actors will be a permanent fixture on the show-Ian McShane, specifically. I wish they would just put the effort into JW3.

Resurrect Daisy.

Meh. Unless Ian McShane & Lance Reddick show up occasionally.

This could be pretty cool if done right. Different hitmen, different contracts, etc. If like to see it all explained a little better. Do you pay to be a member of the Continental or are you an employee?

While I think the world of the Continental is interesting, I'm not sure about a series based on it. It could go either way, even with John Wick making an appearance. I loved the first movie, the second one not as much. I would be more interested in a third John Wick movie.

quote:

Originally posted by Lord Vaalic:
This could be pretty cool if done right. Different hitmen, different contracts, etc. If like to see it all explained a little better. Do you pay to be a member of the Continental or are you an employee?

I'm just guessing, but it seems like more of a "secret society" type of thing. The assassins aren't employees, but I think they probably had to be initiated into the Continental, and then pay dues after becoming members.

Will Connie Sellecca and James Brolin be in it?

I thought the coins where the dues

I think it lends itself well to a series. Can explore lots of different story lines with different characters. On the one hand doing the action well will cost $, OTOH, they won't have the massive expenses of makeup and a ton of extras for large battles etc. (like say The Walking Dead, which must cost a fortune to tape).

quote:

Originally posted by fatmanspencer:
I thought the coins where the dues

The coins appear to be the accepted economy of the guild. So if your a member you can access member services like the auto mechanic, tailor, sommelier, etc.

Yeah the coins were the "coins of the realm" as it were: both a form of payment and membership.