‘John Wick’ TV Series Adaptation in the Works

John Wick is the latest film franchise to get a series treatment.

Starz announced Friday at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour that it is developing The Continental, an ongoing drama series based on the John Wick film franchise starring Keanu Reeves.

While it was originally reported that Reeves will not star in the series, word came from the TCA panel that he will likely make an appearance on the show.

The Continental will be set in the John Wick universe, focusing on the inner workings of the exclusive Continental Hotel which serves as a refuge for assassins.

Set in a hyper-real version of Los Angeles, the series maintains the urgency of the action along with the dry humor from the John Wick movies, producers say. The John Wick universe will expand in the series by focusing on the Continental Hotel and the assassins who find refuge under its roof.

Writer and producer Chris Collins, who is behind big series like Sons of Anarchy, The Wire and The Man in the High Castle, will write the series and serve as showrunner. The film franchise’s team will executive produce, (think Reeves, Basil Iwanyk, Chad Stahelski, Derek Kostad, David Leitch). Stahelski will direct the premiere episode.

A series adaptation of the John Wick franchise had been eyed for some time, with Stahelski teasing months ago that there was strong interest and that Lionsgate was already in early development on the project.

John Wick and its sequel film have grossed nearly $300 million at the worldwide box office and a successful virtual reality mobile game. The third feature film, with Reeves starring, is due in 2019.

“This series is truly unlike anything else on TV,” said Chris Albrecht, Starz president and CEO. “The Continental 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.”