Plus, here’s how to catch up on the Keanu Reeves action franchise and check into the New York pop-up experience.
BY DANIELLE DIRECTO-MESTON
Before there was John Wick, there was Winston Scott, the manager of Manhattan’s high-end hitman hotel. That’s the premise of The Continental: From the World of John Wick, a three-part prequel series that begins streaming Friday on Peacock.
Based on the Keanu Reeves action film franchise, The Continental takes place in 1970s Manhattan and explores how Winston (Colin Woodell) came to lead the hotel for professional assassins. When his brother Frankie (Ben Robson) steals something “very important to a lot of very dangerous people” from the current Continental hotelier Cormac (Mel Gibson), Winston assembles a team of killers to save his brother and take on the hotel — and every assassin in it.To celebrate the action-packed spinoff, Lionsgate and Peacock are bringing the assassin underworld to the Big Apple with Welcome to the Continental: The Hotel Bar Experience, a three-week-long pop-up that kicks off today in the Financial District. Guests can discover “a cryptic underworld for an unforgettable evening of decadent cocktails and life, interactive storylines,” complete with real characters and photo opps. Tickets are $15-$25 and are still available to buy online — and just like in the show, only Gold Coins ($10-$20) can be used at the bar.The Continental premiers Friday on Peacock, and the only way to watch the John Wick spinoff series is with a subscription. The NBCUniversal-owned streaming service costs $6 per month for the ad-supported Premium plan or $12 monthly for the Premium Plus package, or save 17 percent when you bill annually at $60-$120 per year.Both tiers let you watch more than 80,000 hours of TV show episodes and movies (including The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Yellowstone seasons one to four, The Real Housewives franchises and other NBC and Bravo series), live sports and events and more than 50 channels. However, only the Premium Plus option includes no ads (except for select live TV shows), your local NBC channel and the ability to download and watch select titles offline.