‘John Wick’ Prequel Series ‘The Continental’ Reveals Hotel’s Killer Origins in First Trailer

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Lionsgate is officially inviting audiences back to Panem for “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” a prequel set in the “Hunger Games” universe. At long last, the odds were ever in CinemaCon-goers favor on Thursday as attendees of the annual trade show for theater owners were treated to the first teaser for the spinoff story. At last year’s convention, the studio only brought a short clip (sans movie footage or even a cast list) of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” which left much to be desired. The trailer begins with Viola Davis, who plays the head gamemaker Volumnia Gaul, introducing “the creators of the Hunger Games themselves.” But there’s a change in this year’s dystopian event, warns Academy dean Casca Highbottom.

EXCLUSIVE: Avatar: The Way of Water star Sam Worthington has joined Oscar winner Riz Ahmed and Emmy nominee Lily James in thriller Relay, which began filming this week in New York and New Jersey.

Ana de Armas is continuing to cement her status as a bona fide action superstar. She's starring as a secret agent in the forthcoming film , then she's entering the gun-blazing world of the universe in the forthcoming spin-off, Ballerina.The Oscar-nominated actress walked the red carpet at the premiere at the AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York City on Tuesday and spoke with ET about her hotly anticipated role in «That is gonna be really another level,» de Armas teased.

The John Wick prequel series is here!

stars Mel Gibson — though he is absent from the 45-second trailer — Colin Woodell, Mishel Prada, but not John Wick himself, Keanu Reeves. Woodell portrays Winston Scott in “The Continental” who is a young version of the Continental Hotel owner played by Ian McShane in the Reeves films.

John Wick spin-off prequel series The Continental has arrived – check it out below.The series was first teased in 2017, and was confirmed to be a prequel to the Keanu Reeves-starring movie series, with set “way back in terms of timing of the movies.”Ahead of its September 2023 release date on the Peacock streaming service, the first trailer has arrived for the show.A synopsis for The Continental reads: “The three-part event series 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.”Watch the trailer below.Speaking about the show’s premise, Lionsgate chairman Kevin Beggs explained: “What we’re exploring in The Continental is the young Winston and how it came to be that he and his team of confederates found their way into this hotel which we have met for the first time in the movie franchise 40 years later. That’s the arena.“I won’t give away more than that, but Starz really leaned into this take also, and they have been great collaborators.

Mel Gibson and Colin Woodell lead the cast for the three-part prequel series, , which will premiere in September on Peacock, it was announced Wednesday. The upcoming series explores the origins behind the hotel for assassins at the center of the franchise and is told through the eyes of young Winston Scott (Woodell) as he's dragged into the hell-scape of 1970s New York City to face a past he thought he 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.Woodell plays a younger version of the character portrayed by Ian McShane in the  movies, and he's not the only cast member taking on a familiar role to fans of the franchise.

As “John Wick: Chapter 4” continues its run in theaters, with over $306.6 million made at the box office, it’s time to start considering the franchise’s future. Will Keanu Reeves ever return to Chad Stahelski‘s series? Both actor and director are cagey in answering that question.

TMZ reports.According to the death certificate obtained by the outlet, the “John Wick” actor, who passed last month at 60 years old, was diagnosed with Ischemic Heart Disease and Atherosclerotic Coronary Artery Disease. The death certificate also states Reddick will be cremated.Atherosclerosis, a type of arteriosclerosis per Mayo Clinic, is a condition where the arteries become narrow due to plaque build-up, resulting in coronary artery disease.“The Wire” star died March 17 after collapsing in his Studio City home that morning.

It’s undeniable that Keanu Reeves, director Chad Stahelski and screenwriter/creator Derek Kolstad have put together one hell of a crowd-pleasing action franchise with the quadrilogy of “John Wick” films that keep turning out to be financial successes for Lionsgate. As the prospect of “John Wick 5” is less clear despite the strong box office returns of the recent installment, they are going to keep fans happy with a handful of spinoffs on the way, including the series prequel “The Continental” that is expected to debut this September and a feature film starring Ana de Armas as Rooney, an assassin/ballerina from Wick’s criminal syndicate (The Ruska Roma) looking for revenge after hitmen kill her family.

Lionsgate’s John Wick spinoff The Ballerina will be hitting theaters on June 7, 2024.

In just two weekends, “John Wick: Chapter 4” has outgrossed the domestic totals for the first two films in the franchise and is more than halfway to passing ‘Chapter 3.’ That is to say, ‘Chapter 4’ is already a massive success, and the “John Wick” franchise is stronger than ever before. Even still, a fifth film doesn’t seem to be a given, according to director Chad Stahelski.

“John Wick: Chapter 4” is here. And it is blowing everybody away, as is evidenced by its bone-crunching, franchise-best $70 million+ opening weekend.There’s a reason for its oversized success; in the fourth entry of the franchise that follows disaffected assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) as he traverses a vast network of underworld weirdos with mythological overtones, the movie takes on a grander, more elegant expanse.

Keanu Reeves gifted stunt crew on John Wick: Chapter 4 t-shirts bearing the amount of times they died in the movie.According to The New York Times, Reeves gave out the shirts at the end of the shoot, which were “emblazoned with the number of times they were slain” throughout the blockbuster. It’s said for some of the crew, the number was above 20.Many of the stuntmen in John Wick: Chapter 4 were re-used in multiple scenes.

John Wick: Chapter 4 landed in cinemas last week, with Keanu Reeves reprising the titular role once again on the big screen.Directed by Chad Stahelski and written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch, the action-thriller follows Wick as he “uncovers a path to defeating the High Table”.“But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes,” a synopsis about the new movie adds.You can watch the trailer for John Wick: Chapter 4 below.The John Wick franchise currently consists of four movies. The series kicked off with John Wick in October 2014, before John Wick: Chapter 2 followed in February 2017 – both films were written by Derek Kolstad and directed by Stahelski (with the original also featuring co-director David Leitch).John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum was then released in May 2019 with Stahelski once again directing, while the script was handled by Kolstad, Shay Hatten, Chris Collins and Marc Abrams.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter As it rolls the dice at the weekend box office, “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is aiming to emerge victorious over last weekend’s champion “John Wick: Chapter 4.” A natural 20 isn’t guaranteed, but Paramount and eOne’s adaptation of the popular role-playing game is hoping to collect $30 million to $40 million from 3,850 North American locations. It’ll be a close race for first place between that and the fourth “John Wick,” which topped the box office with $73.5 million and looks to add about $36 million in its sophomore outing. Internationally, “Dungeons & Dragons” is opening in 58 markets, where it’s aiming for $25 million or more.

John Wick: Chapter 4 has an alternate ending that made test screening audiences “revolt”.According to the film’s director, Chad Stahelski, test screenings got “a little sketchy” as an alternate ending left audiences unhappy. Revealing that the hit action film’s cinema cut has another ending, Stahelski told The Hollywood Reporter that the reaction from these test runs made an important decision on the theatrical cut for him.“It was a little sketchy during test screenings.

John Wick: Chapter 4.The film was released in the UK last week (March 24), and is the fourth instalment to the action-packed John Wick franchise.Following its release, many fans have noticed a cameo from the iconic Berghain bouncer, who appears several times throughout the film and has just one line: “I am Klaus”.The premise behind the fourth edition of the series follows the title character, as he attempts to take on the aristocratic crime barons who sit at The High Table’ – travelling across the world to do so. From there, the impeccably-dressed assassin heads to iconic locations including Paris, New York and Berlin, where he meets Marquardt.Here, his character is an associate of Wick and helps the title character to locate a villainous character whom he’s instructed to assassinate.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director John Wick is a man of few words. No really. A report from The Wall Street Journal reveals that Keanu Reeves’ eponymous assassin says only 380 words across 103 lines of dialogue during “John Wick: Chapter 4,” which runs nearly three-hours long with its 169 minute runtime. Nearly a third of Reeves’ dialogue in the sequel consists of just one single word. As reported by Wall Street Journal: “In the first installment, clocking in at 101 minutes, Mr. Reeves said a total of 484 words. With a run time of 169 minutes, the fourth movie pushes three hours but features just 380 words by Wick. About 10% of them are featured in the movie’s trailer, which makes the hero seem almost chatty; Wick says more in that 2.5 minute clip than he does in the first 25 minutes of the movie itself.”

Joe Drake told Deadline after the stellar result.His optimistic remarks come despite a clear-cut ending for the title character in the fourth film.“There’s a lot of different things that we can do,” Drake said. “I’ve seen this movie five times in the last week.”Drake and Lionsgate were surely moved by the franchise-record box office take of $137.5 million worldwide ($73 million domestic) its first weekend, and its 95% score on RottenTomatoes — another high.The Post awarded “John Wick: Chapter 4” 3.5 stars, calling it “100-miles-an-hour” and “a beautiful sight to behold.”In the film, assassin Wick darts around the world — New York, Berlin, Paris, Osaka — piling up bodies to finally free himself from the chains of the powerful crime syndicate the High Table.