Set in the gritty underworld of 1970s New York City, this prequel event series explores the violent origin story of the iconic hotel-for-assassins. A young Winston Scott is dragged into the hellscape of his past when his estranged brother steals something invaluable from Cormac, the ruthless current manager of The Continental. To save his family and survive, Winston must chart a deadly course through the hotel's mysterious underworld and seize the throne he is destined to rule.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States |
Premiere date |
September 22, 2023 |
Running time |
257 minutes (Total) |
Genre |
Action Crime Thriller |
Budget |
$60,000,000 |
Box Office |
N/A (Streaming Exclusive) |
Crew |
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Directed by |
Albert Hughes Charlotte Brändström |
Produced by |
Basil Iwanyk Erica Lee Albert Hughes Chad Stahelski |
Written by |
Greg Coolidge Kirk Ward Shawn Simmons |
Music by |
Raffertie |
Cinematography |
Pal Ulvik Rokseth |
Edited by |
Ron Rosen |
Production Co. |
Lionsgate Television Thunder Road Pictures |
Distributed by |
Peacock Amazon Prime Video |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #05 in John Wick Collection
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The Plot
The Prodigal Brother and the Coin Press
Set against the backdrop of the "Winter of Discontent" in an alternate history 1975, New York City is a landscape of filth, violence, and rising economic power for the American Mafia. The New York branch of The Continental, a safe haven for assassins where business is strictly forbidden, is under the iron-fisted control of the Machiavellian proprietor, Cormac O'Connor. Cormac possesses a device of immense power within the criminal underworld: a valuable coin press utilized by the High Table to manufacture the gold coins that serve as the universal currency for their society.
The status quo is shattered when Frankie Scott, the estranged brother of Winston Scott, audaciously steals the coin press from Cormac. This theft pulls Winston out of his exquisite, high-class life in London and drags him back into the grit of New York City. Cormac, unhinged and desperate to recover the property of the High Table, places intense pressure on Winston to locate his brother, setting the stage for a violent collision between the Scott brothers and the vast resources of the hotel.
A Declaration of War
Following the tragic death of Frankie, Winston Scott is left with nothing but a desire for vengeance. Realizing that survival and justice are synonymous in this world, he resolves to not only kill Cormac O'Connor but to dismantle his empire and seize the Continental for himself. To achieve this impossible task, Winston begins to assemble a team of allies from the city's underbelly.
Among his recruits are Lou and Yen, skilled fighters with their own stakes in the conflict. Crucially, Winston also aligns himself with a young Charon, Cormac’s assistant, whose quiet dignity and specific mannerisms hint at the loyal concierge he is destined to become. Together, they plot a coup against a man who has shown his capacity for viciousness—most notably demonstrated when Cormac beats an unarmed man to death with a golf club, a disturbing display of his unraveling sanity.
The Golden Infiltration
Understanding that he cannot assault the fortress head-on without resources, Winston leverages the very object that started the war: the stolen coin press. He and his forces use the machine to mint a massive amount of gold coins, creating the financial leverage necessary to fund their operation and bribe their way into the hotel's infrastructure. This tactical move allows them to bypass the initial layers of security, effectively placing a Trojan horse within Cormac’s gates.
Night of Judgment
Once the infiltration is exposed, the Continental descends into absolute chaos. In a desperate bid to survive, Cormac officially suspends the hotel's rules, "empowering" his mob, the criminals, and the various assassins residing in the hotel to conduct "business" on the grounds. He offers a bounty for Winston's head, turning every corridor and room into a potential kill box.
The hotel becomes an arena of brutality. Among the deadliest threats unleashed by Cormac are the eccentric and lethal assassin twins, Hansel and Gretel, who hunt Winston's team with ruthless precision. The violence is relentless, featuring visceral hand-to-hand combat and gunfights, including a desperate, claustrophobic struggle inside a phone booth where the enclosed space amplifies the lethality of the encounter.
The Self-Destruct Protocol
Despite throwing his entire arsenal at the intruders, Cormac watches his defense crumble. When he reaches out to the High Table for reinforcements, they refuse to assist him, viewing his loss of control as a fatal failure. Cornered and abandoned, Cormac initiates a "scorched earth" policy, locking down the hotel and activating a self-destruct protocol intended to bury his enemies along with his legacy.
However, Cormac’s escape is cut short by the arrival of KD, a police detective with a personal vendetta. It is revealed that KD's family was killed by Winston and Frankie years prior, but they were acting on Cormac's direct orders. Rather than killing Winston, KD executes Cormac, ending his reign of terror. In a gruesome turn of events, Winston utilizes Cormac’s severed hand to bypass the biometric security, disabling the lockdown and aborting the self-destruct sequence just in time.
The Interregnum
In the aftermath of the siege, Winston and his surviving friends stand as the victors, ready to claim the hotel. However, the High Table’s Adjudicator arrives to restore order. She arrogantly claims that she was the one who actually disabled the self-destruct mechanism and places the hotel in a state of "Interregnum," declaring that Winston was never authorized to take the throne.
Winston, however, has evolved into a master strategist. Fully aware that he still possesses the coin press—the ultimate leverage over the High Table's economy—he refuses to bow to bureaucratic threats. In a definitive act that cements his new position, Winston shoots and kills the Adjudicator. This executes a bold message to the High Table: the New York Continental now belongs to Winston Scott.
