One of the surprise critical hits of 2014 was the action-thriller John Wick, which earned $86 million worldwide from a $20 million budget. Shortly after the movie's modest theatrical success, Lionsgate moved forward with a sequel, John Wick: Chapter 2, which brings Keanu Reeves back as the title character. One of the other original John Wick stars returning is Ian McShane, whose character Winston ran the mysterious Continental Hotel, a hangout for assassins. While discussing his role in last night's Game of Thrones, the actor shed new light on this sequel.

Back in April, the official synopsis for John Wick: Chapter 2 was released, teasing that Keanu Reeves' title character is forced out of retirement by a former associate plotting to seize control of a shadowy international assassins' guild. Bound by a blood oath to help him, John travels to Rome where he squares off against some of the world's deadliest killers. During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ian McShane teased that the sequel has a similar premise to the first movie, while praising the new villain, played by Riccardo Scamarcio.

"I'm kind of the only one left from the first [John Wick]. This is same kind of premise. It's not like two years later, but pretty soon after the first one. Keanu [Reeves] is a great guy. They got this terrific Italian kid, Riccardo Scamarcio, who plays the chief villain, who's excellent, and we have a lot of stuff together. And the guy who directs it, Chad Stahelski, is really smart. He's been Keanu's stunt guy for [nearly] 20 years and he's studied muay-thai. He's got every stunt man who's available for [this film]. The action looks like it was done by somebody out of Hong Kong instead of Hollywood which I always think is a great sight."

Despite his contention that Ian McShane's Winston is the "only one left" from the original, it has previously been reported that original John Wick stars John Leguizamo (Aurelio), Bridget Moynahan (Helen), Thomas Sadoski (Jimmy) and Lance Reddick (Charon) will also be back. New cast members include Laurence Fishburne as an assassin known as The Bowery King, Common, Ruby Rose and Peter Stormare. When asked to elaborate on the plot, Ian McShane reveals that John Wick does get a new dog, but now he's on the run from Russian mobsters.

"Keanu gets a new dog. But yes, it's about what comes on him after that. It's all about the assassin's code, if you like. He's killed a Russian gangster and now there's a contract out on him, so it's a continuation. I loved the first one. This could be even better than the first."

Chad Stahelski directed the original John Wick with David Leitch, but he'll be directing John Wick 2 by himself. Both filmmakers had planned to tackle the sequel together, but they decided to split up for the time being, with Chad Stahelski taking on the sequel and David Leitch directing The Coldest City, which has Charlize Theron set to star. John Wick writer Derek Kolstad returned to write the script. It isn't known when we may expect the first trailer for John Wick Chapter Two, which has been set for release on February 10, 2017. We'll be sure to keep you posted with more updates for John Wick Chapter 2 as soon as we have more information.