Basil Iwanyk revealed there was “a lot of pressure in a non-Keanu world”. <\/p>
Producer of Prime Video series The Continental<\/a>, Basil Iwanyk, has shared his worries about doing a John Wick<\/a> spin-off without Keanu Reeves<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com<\/a>, Iwanyk revealed he and show bosses had \u201ctrepidation\u201d about doing a John Wick TV series without the man himself.<\/p> He said: \u201cThe 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\u2019s the buy in.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s probably the same conversations that they had at Marvel<\/a> after they got past Iron Man and Captain America. They don\u2019t really know this world, they don\u2019t know who Guardians of the Galaxy<\/a> are, but they believe in Marvel, so they go in because it\u2019s a Marvel show.\u201d<\/p>\n Iwanyk explained it was their hope to replicate this. \u201cDo we believe people love this world enough and what we\u2019ve done that they\u2019re willing to go into a non-Keanu version of it? That was our trepidation.<\/p>\n \u201cDid that have any effect on casting Colin? No. Once we made that choice, we never looked back,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n The producer added that show bosses didn\u2019t have \u201cthe ghost Keanu Reeves over our shoulder\u201d when it came to the casting for The Continental.<\/p>\n Iwanyk continued: \u201cThe ghost of Keanu Reeves was okay, we don\u2019t have him. He buys us a lot of goodwill. We better do a great f***ing job because there\u2019s something great about having a movie star.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re struggling a bit, you just cut to him and you go, \u2018I like this guy.\u2019 And then all things are good. There was a lot of pressure in a non-Keanu world.\u201d<\/p> \n