‘Continental’: Colin Woodell To Headline Starz’s ‘John Wick’ Prequel Series As Young Winston Scott

Colin Woodell (The Flight Attendant) has been tapped as the lead in The Continental, Starz’s TV series prequel to the Keanu Reeves film franchise John Wick. Woodell, who will play Winston Scott, the younger version of Ian McShane’s character from the John Wick films, joins Mel Gibson in the three-night special-event TV series, produced by Lionsgate Television.

The Continental explores the origin behind the hotel-for-assassins, a centerpiece of the John Wick universe, through the eyes and actions of a young Winston Scott (Woodell) who is dragged into the Hell-scape of a 1975 New York City to face a past he thought he’d left behind. Winston charts a deadly course through the New York’s mysterious underworld in a harrowing attempt to seize the iconic hotel, which serves as the meeting point for the world’s most dangerous criminals.

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Gibson plays a character named Cormac in the series based on Lionsgate’s blockbuster John Wick film franchise, written by Derek Kolstad, which has grossed more than $600 million in the global boxoffice.

McShane has previously said he won’t appear in The Continental but might do voice-over work, and Lionsgate has said that while Reeves likely won’t appear in the series, he’s in talks to be an exec producer.

Greg Coolidge and Kirk Ward are writing the event series, which consists of three 90-minute movies, and serve as executive producers and showrunners. Thunder Road Pictures’ Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee, Chad Stahelski, Derek Kolstad, David Leitch, Shawn Simmons, Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese and Marshall Persinger will also serve as executive producers.

Albert Hughes (The Book of Eli) will be directing Night One and Night Three while executive producing all three. Charlotte Brändström (The Lord of the Rings) will direct Night Two.

Woodell, who co-starred opposite Kaley Cuoco on the first season of HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant, recently made a New York stage debut Off-Broadway in Dying City opposite Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Next, Woodell will be seen in Michael Bay’s film Ambulance opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and in Amazon Prime Video’s, I Love America opposite Sophie Marceau. He is repped by Management 360 and Gersh.

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