The Continental, Starz's John Wick prequel TV series, has cast Mel Gibson as one of the show's leads, Deadline reports. Lionsgate Television will be producing this three-night special, which will give a back story to the famous assassin's hotel that has served as a focal point in the movie franchise, John Wick.
So far, all we know about Gibson's involvement is that he will play the role of a character named Cormac. The story will center around a younger version of Winston Scott, the owner of The Continental, as he attempts to fight his way through New York’s underworld to take over operations of The Continental in 1975 New York City. The role of Winston Scott (played in the movie franchise by Ian McShane) has not yet been announced.
Gibson, who is mainly known for his big-screen performances in classics such as the Lethal Weapon series and Best Picture-winner Braveheart, hasn’t done much TV in recent years. Although Gibson got his start on the Australian television series The Sullivans from 1976-1983, the actor always had his eyes set on the silver screen. During his time on The Sullivans, Gibson picked up roles in George Miller’s Mad Max and Peter Weir’s Gallipoli, just to name a few.
Although it will be a change for the actor to move from film to TV, he will be in good hands as the John Wick trilogy has grossed almost $600 million around the world with a fourth installment on the way. The films tell the story of a retired assassin that is brought back into the game after the puppy that his deceased wife gifted him is killed by the son of a mob boss.
In a statement about why they’ve decided to create the prequel, Lionsgate TV’s Kevin Beggs said,
It’s such a successful franchise, it’s on its way to its fourth and fifth installments as a movie. It’s got such a great mythology and such interesting style, and the gun fu approach of these incredibly poetic stunt esthetics is just out of this world, which is why the movie with Keanu Reeves — who is so amazing in everything he does but particularly compelling as John Wick in our mind — it just cries out to be something in TV. Just like the Marvel Universe and the DC Universe from a TV perspective are incredibly opportunities, and that is our superhero franchise in the family.
The Continental does not yet have a release date.