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‘John Wick’ TV Show: Keanu Reeves Expected to Guest Star, a New Title, more

L

LordOfLore

Banned
Link.

Prior to the box office boom of “John Wick: Chapter 2,” the film’s director and franchise mastermind Chad Stahelski said he and screenwriting partner Derek Kolstad had plans for a TV series. Those plans are still in motion, with the project in development at Lionsgate and a new title assigned to the prequel.

IndieWire has learned that the series is being developed under the name, “The Continental,” and Lionsgate is “very excited” about the series. In a separate interview, Stahelski said the focus was expected to be the “cool, Wick-ian, magical, and mysterious world” of the titular hotel.

“They’ve got a really good structure,” Stahelski said. “It’s very tied to the film [in that] it’s about the Continentals all over the world, how certain people come into that world, and what happens in relation to those people, which is cool. I think the world is very vast, and everything I’ve heard from it is very positive. […] It’s something that studio seems very, very intent on [making] and very, very behind.”

“John Wick: Chapter 2” was the first to delve into the worldwide reach of The Continental, a hotel chain that serves as a respite for assassins and an access point for resources specific to the job. No “business” is allowed on hotel grounds, and Wick (Keanu Reeves) faces repercussions for violating that rule heading into the upcoming third film.

“I like telling stories from my one character’s perspective,” Stahelski said. “Once you put that aside with the TV show, [you can] expand to all the different characters and follow them throughout their journey. You can be with the consigliere, concierge, the sommelier — you can be with all these different characters and walk through the world in different aspects; ones that I’m a little limited [from exploring] by staying with my lead guy.”

That being said, plans for the series include incorporating Wick into the story — and putting Reeves on-screen.

“I think he would make an appearance,” Stahelski said. “I think that’s part of his thing, [But the series] isn’t centered around John Wick.”

Lionsgate could not confirm Reeves’ role in the series at this time, nor say who is writing the show — Stahelski said he’s “a really good showrunner” — but the director wants to stay as involved as time allows, given that he’s directing the third “John Wick” as well as pursuing other feature film projects.

“Currently, I’d like to stay involved throughout the development stage and hopefully direct a couple of episodes,” he said to IndieWire

Stahelski and Reeves’ busy schedule also contributed to their other TV project — “Rain,” the limited series based on Barry Eisler’s novel — being put on the back-burner.

“I think ‘Rain’ is kind of on hold right now,” Stahelski said. “It deals with Keanu’s schedule. He’s a busy guy, and he’s in love with the ‘Wick’ franchise, so he wants to put his time and energy into that.

“For us and Keanu, [‘John Wick’] was a one-off,” he added. “That’s when we were developing ‘Rain,’ in between [Chapter 1 and Chapter 2], and then all of a sudden everybody wanted us to do No. 2, and No. 2 did really well. So now, he kind of had to choose where to put his time, and he’s kind of vested into ‘John Wick’ — at least for the series and No. 3 of ‘John Wick.’ And if he chooses to afterwards, there’s always ‘Rain.'”

Stahelski, though, remains very excited about shooting television.

“Look at ‘Battle of the Bastards,'” Stahelski said of the action-packed “Game of Thrones” episode. “As an action designer, I think that’s the best battle I’ve ever seen on TV. They did a great job, and they weren’t careless with their money. They planned it, they boarded it — you watch the behind-the-scenes, [it’s clear] the guys did everything right.”

“Granted, they’re the biggest budgeted show on TV right now, but could we do something interesting with ‘John Wick’ with what we have? Yeah. I’d like to give it a go and prove to the TV world that you can have feature action on a TV show. It would be a nice little feather in my cap, sure,” he said.
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Lock if old.
 
X

xxracerxx

Don't worry, I'll vouch for them.
Eehhhhh not really sure that I want this. I love the world but the slight glimpses we get during the films are usually enough.
 
C

Chumley

Banned
giphy.gif
 
L

Loxley

Member
I think it'd be cool if they with a sort of Fargo/American Horror Story anthology-style approach with this. Like each season focuses on a different Continental and group of assassins from around the world.
 
L

LakeEarth

Member
He's going to find his long-lost daughter, and train her in his bad-ass ways, and the rest of the show will follow her adventures. It'll be called "Sabrina the Teenage Wick".

I have a pun problem.
 
R

Rodney McKay

Member
Limitless got a really fun TV series and had Bradley Cooper guest star in it as his character from the movie in a few episodes. Sadly it only got one season, probably because it didn't hit its stride until a little ways into the series.

The John Wick universe seems like it could have some potential, but I'm curious if it'll also break through enough to get more than a season.
 
C

Carn82

Member
But I hope this makes it to production. The smaller budget will probably result into a slower pace as well, I'm all in for a cool mystery series about the Wickverse with the occasional balls to the walls shootout.
 
D

Dr.Acula

Banned
All these shows (like Marvel on Netflix) end up being talky. John Wick works because they're not as talky as other properties. The universe of John Wick is okay, but it works because the action scenes are long and frequent. No way they can pull that off in a show, so they are operating under the misguided notion that the universe stuff being fun in the movies stands up to scrutiny when it becomes the central focus. House of Cards it is not.
 
F

FullMetaltech

Member
I'm not sure if I like the idea of a tv show for it. I mean I loved Limitless and when they had BC on it made sense but it didn't make the cut. Don't know how it would fare for tv.
 
M

Metalmarc

Member
I finally saw John Wick 2 yesterday it was great, he killed a man with a fuck-ing pencil.

Hmmm i dunno about that T.V series, i mean the reason i watch John Wick is for John Wick, I don't really care about Characters surrounding him, no matter how great they are.

That said if they could make it awesome then who knows, it could be great.
 
A

Apoc29

Member
I don't trust TV people to produce consistently good fight choreography. That is, unless they've also worked on Into the Badlands.
 
J

Joeku

Member
Dr.Acula said:
All these shows (like Marvel on Netflix) end up being talky. John Wick works because they're not as talky as other properties. The universe of John Wick is okay, but it works because the action scenes are long and frequent. No way they can pull that off in a show, so they are operating under the misguided notion that the universe stuff being fun in the movies stands up to scrutiny when it becomes the central focus. House of Cards it is not.
Click to expand...

John Wick is the weird property where I think the best adaptation might be a video game, if they can do some interesting stuff with the melee/headshot city business.
 
T

TetraGenesis

Member
Stahelski, though, remains very excited about shooting television.

”Look at ‘Battle of the Bastards,'" Stahelski said of the action-packed ”Game of Thrones" episode. ”As an action designer, I think that's the best battle I've ever seen on TV. They did a great job, and they weren't careless with their money. They planned it, they boarded it — you watch the behind-the-scenes, [it's clear] the guys did everything right."

”Granted, they're the biggest budgeted show on TV right now, but could we do something interesting with ‘John Wick' with what we have? Yeah. I'd like to give it a go and prove to the TV world that you can have feature action on a TV show. It would be a nice little feather in my cap, sure," he said.
Click to expand...

His enthusiasm here is infectious. I really want him to succeed at this and acknowledging Battle of the Bastards is a great start.

Angelus Errare said:
A show about the John Wick universe with none of the John Wick violence or choreography?

Meh.
Click to expand...

If it's well budgeted and on HBO or Netflix, why would either have to suffer (much)?
 
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