Director Albert Hughes Talks 'The Continental'

A director is discussing an action-packed prequel to a blockbuster action franchise with BOSSIP.

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‘The Continental: From the World of John Wick explores the origin behind the iconic hotel-for-assassins centerpiece of the John Wick universe. A young Winston Scott takes center stage as s he’s dragged into “the Hell-scape of 1970’s New York City to face a past he thought he’d left behind.”

He’s not alone however he’s got a gang of goons who are on board to help him take down sleazy supervillain Cormac. Ultimately Winston Scott and his crew are on a mission to seize the hotel that houses nefarious members of the underworld.

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“Everyone loves escapism in cinema,” said Hughes in a statement about the twisty-turny three-part series. “As a filmmaker I wanted to honor the spirit of escapism and excitement from the film series while introducing new fans to a hyper-stylized world they’ve never seen before.

Together executive producer/writer Kirk Ward and I had several goals – to explore the backstories of familiar Wick characters, introduce new and exciting ones, dig deeper into the rules and mythology while expanding the physical scope of The Continental, showing fans areas of the iconic hotel they’ve never seen before.

Kirk and I had the time of our lives creating this impressionistic spin on New York in the 70s.”

Hughes echoed those thoughts during an interview with BOSSIP’s Managing Editor Dani Canada and noted that he put various Easter eggs in the two episodes (1 and 3) that he directed.

“I went in thinking about action fans, movie fans and yes, you have to service the John Wick fans in general,” said Hughes. “You have to nod to the film series and let it take a life of its own.”

He also noted that in addition to having Easter eggs, The Continental has a diverse group of female characters that range from Frankie’s wife Yen (Nhung Kate) who’s fiercely loyal and a fierce fighter, and Lou (Jessica Allain) an expert martial artist whose high moral compass is put to the test.

The director lauds them as “bada**” and notes that they do most of the cleanup in episode 3 that ends with a bang.

Check out our chat with Albert Hughes below.