Basil Iwanyk revealed there was “a lot of pressure in a non-Keanu world”.
Producer of Prime Video series The Continental, Basil Iwanyk, has shared his worries about doing a John Wick spin-off without Keanu Reeves.
The Continental explores the origin of the hotel for assassins centrepiece of the John Wick universe, serving as a prequel to the John Wick movie franchise.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Iwanyk revealed he and show bosses had “trepidation” about doing a John Wick TV series without the man himself.
He said: “The proof of concept of this show is so people love the John Wick world and are emotionally engaged with the John Wick world enough that they would see a movie or a TV show without the character of John Wick. That’s the buy in.
“It’s probably the same conversations that they had at Marvel after they got past Iron Man and Captain America. They don’t really know this world, they don’t know who Guardians of the Galaxy are, but they believe in Marvel, so they go in because it’s a Marvel show.”
Iwanyk explained it was their hope to replicate this. “Do we believe people love this world enough and what we’ve done that they’re willing to go into a non-Keanu version of it? That was our trepidation.
“Did that have any effect on casting Colin? No. Once we made that choice, we never looked back,” he explained.
Read more:
- The Continental: Release date, cast and trailer for John Wick spin-off
- The Continental cast: Meet the cast of the John Wick prequel series
The producer added that show bosses didn’t have “the ghost Keanu Reeves over our shoulder” when it came to the casting for The Continental.
Iwanyk continued: “The ghost of Keanu Reeves was okay, we don’t have him. He buys us a lot of goodwill. We better do a great f***ing job because there’s something great about having a movie star.
“When you’re struggling a bit, you just cut to him and you go, ‘I like this guy.’ And then all things are good. There was a lot of pressure in a non-Keanu world.”
The Continental is available to stream on Prime Video now. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on.
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