Peacock has announced the premiere date for The Continental: From the World of John Wick at the San Diego Comic-Con. The three-part event will debut with “Night 1” on Friday, September 22.
The second night will take place on Friday, September 29 and the conclusion will stream on Friday, October 6.
At the San Diego Comic-Con, fans of the John Wick franchise and convention-goers were given an exclusive first look at The Continental: From the World of John Wick during a Q&A panel.
Executive producer/director Albert Hughes, executive producer Marshall Persinger, and the creative team including editor Ron Rosen, action director Larnell Stovall and production designer Drew Boughton discussed what fans can expect and showcased sneak peak moments from the series.
Hughes, director of nights one and three, talked about the importance of starting The Continental: From the World of John Wick with an action sequence: “For the fans out there, we got you. Yes, we have longer form storytelling but if you set up something like that early with someone like Larnell (action director), you want to satiate the hardcore John Wick fans right away.
“Also casual fans that will come and go this is wild, what’s going on here…”
He also talked about creating the look and feel of the ’70s: “I’m gonna geek out a little bit. We found these old lenses at Panavision that haven’t been used in years and have been collecting dust. And so the lenses we shot the show shot ‘Doctor Zhivago,’ ‘Cool Hand Luke’ and ‘The Graduate.’
“We got these very antiquated lenses because today’s lenses are a bit too sharp and along with great production design, you can playfully do subtle things to convey this time period.”
Executive producer Marshall Persinger talked about bringing The Continental: From the World of John Wick to life: “The best way to make something great is to have a great script first, have a great visionary director, and then have a cast that is to be damned.”
Action director Larnell Stovall also talked about the characters we’ll meet: “Once you see them in action, there’s gonna be cosplay for years to come.”
The three-part event will explore the origin behind the iconic hotel-for-assassins centerpiece of the John Wick universe through the eyes and actions of a young Winston Scott, as he’s dragged into the Hell-scape of 1970’s New York City to face a past he thought he’d left behind.
Winston charts a deadly course through the hotel’s mysterious underworld in a harrowing attempt to seize the hotel where he will eventually take his future throne.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick stars Mel Gibson, Colin Woodell, Mishel Prada, Ben Robson, Hubert Point-Du Jour, Nhung Kate, Jessica Allain, Ayomide Adegun, Jeremy Bobb, and Peter Greene.
From Lionsgate, the series is developed, written and executive produced by Greg Coolidge, Kirk Ward, and Shawn Simmons.
The directors include Albert Hughes (Parts 1 & 3) and Charlotte Brandstrom (Part 2).
The executive producers include Thunder Road Pictures’ Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee, Albert Hughes, Kirk Ward, Greg Coolidge, Chad Stahelski, Derek Kolstad, David Leitch, Shawn Simmons, Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese and Marshall Persinger.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.