Albert Hughes (“The Book of Eli,” “From Hell,” “Menace II Society”) has been set as director for most of Starz’s “John Wick” prequel spin-off “The Continental”.
Heat Vision broke the report saying the project, which was originally developed to be a series, is now been altered into more of a major one-off event.
The project has reportedly been reconceived as a three-part, three-night event limited series, with each episode coming in at both a movie-length (around 90 minutes) and at a movie budget (upwards of $20 million each).
Hughes, who most recently directed 2018’s “Alpha” and the pilot of Showtime’s “The Good Lord Bird,” will serve as director of the first and third episodes. A director for the middle episode hasn’t been chosen as yet. Chad Stahelski has helmed all the films in the series to date.
The prequel will revolve around The Continental, the chain of hotels located all around the world that function as a neutral territory for members of the criminal underworld.
Set 40 years before the events of the main series and against the backdrop of 1970s New York, this focuses on a young man named Winston and his early days as the hitman hotelier.
Chris Collins, Derek Kolstad and Chad Stahelski have all worked on the scripts for the series. Kolstad, Stahelski, Basil Iwanyk and David Leitch are executive producing and Reeves is in talks to do so as well.
“The Continental” is expected to arrive after the currently filming “John Wick: Chapter 4” hits cinemas next year.