Constantine with Keanu Reeves

[sleekproductions]

Sci Fi Wire also chatted with producer Lauren Shuler Donner who said more about Constantine...

"It's not an origin story of the character," played by Keanu Reeves, Donner said in an interview while promoting her next movie, Timeline. "It's 'Dangerous Habits,' if you know the Hellblazer [series]."

"Dangerous Habits," the 1994 graphic novel by Irish writer Garth Ennis, focuses on John Constantine, a magician faced with death from lung cancer, who finds himself straddling the line between life and death, heaven and hell. "We're filming," Donner said. "We're about a third into it. It's come along great. And it'll be out next year, probably, well, at the moment, September."


-Thanks to www.superherohype.com-

[sleekproductions]

A few pictures from the film...

http://www.insanerantings.com/hell/movie/stills/CND-174sthumb.jpg

http://www.insanerantings.com/hell/movie/stills/CND-693sthumb.JPG

Keanu Reeves' next action hero won't have Neo's steady Zen-like calm, but it was the fiery passion that made the role of Hellblazer so attractive, according to the "Matrix" star.

"[It's] his anger. He's angry, but he's got a good heart," Reeves said recently of the comic book badass, whose real name is John Constantine.

In the "Hellblazer" comic, which is aimed at a savvy adult audience, Constantine is an Englishman with occult powers who is both a liar and a cheat and yet nevertheless often prone to doing the right thing.

Reeves said he hopes to get moving on the big-screen adaptation, which will be called simply "Constantine," as soon as September. Warner Bros. has long labored to get the DC/Vertigo comic into theaters, with Nicolas Cage at one time attached to the role before Reeves landed the job. The film will mark the feature film debut of video director Francis Lawrence, whose résumé includes clips for Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and P.O.D. (see "VMA Lens Recap: The Story Behind P.O.D.'s 'Alive'").

Constantine was created in the pages of "Swamp Thing" by comic book visionary Alan Moore, whose "From Hell" was the basis for a 2001 thriller starring Johnny Depp and Heather Graham. Moore's "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" is also getting the big-screen treatment, with a film version starring Sean Connery due later this summer.

Before he slips into Hellblazer's trench coat, Reeves will finish work on a currently untitled project with writer/director Nancy Meyers ("What Women Want"), co-starring Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton and Jon Favreau ("Swingers"). Production started on the film in February, with the film's producers eyeing a December 2003 release.

"Constantine" is tentatively scheduled for summer 2004.

[dh1989]

I am not the biggest fan of the comic-book you'll find, but I dig Keanu Reeves and the early photos are looking very dark and stylish, a la The Matrix and Dark City, which I love. With a solid as hell cast and a cool look, you bet your boots I'll be there opening night!

[Scarface98.9]

Lord knows I'm not a big fan of Hellblazer, and I'm not a huge fan of Reeves, but I'll be there. They're making some really strange changes, and Reeves is nothing like the comic book version, but I'm staying optimistic

[JCR]

Oh I'm still hoping to be surprised but I still reckon it will suck. The moment they announced it's gonna be PG13 my heart sank. How exactly are they planning an adaptation of one of the most violent, foul mouthed comics around...with a PG13?!? Well at least keanu ain't gonna try the liverpool accent. We should be thankful for small mercys.

The anti smoking lobby who are moaning at the mpaa at the moment are gonna hate this a lot. (I would assume KR is gonna be doing that highly stylized "cool" smoking as shown in those images in most scenes in the film.)

[m ali]

I have never read the comic but I am hoping that this movie will be good.

[Moviefan1234]

Like dh1989, the dark and stylish look makes me interested. It has a great cast and a solid premise, so I'll be anticipating this one. It had better not let me down.

[James Logan]

Looks classy, if this keeps up, I'll definitely be checking this out in the theaters when it's out.

[night prowler]

I am very excited! Keanu Reeves is an awesome actor and I love the story!

[lalex81]

Maybe the movie will turn out good, but for anyone who was read the comics Reeves is a really odd choice.

My vote was for Colin Farrel.

Anyway Francis Lawrence is a geat clip director so I have faith that he would do a great job.

The last clip directors who jumped to feature films have been Mark Romanek with One Hour Photo (nice) and Paul Hunter with Bulletproof Monk (dissapointing)

[Psychocandy]

Initially I was very disappointed by both the casting and the translocation of the story from the UK to across the pond. Now i'm just hoping that despite all the problems I envisage somehow something good comes out of this. The Dangerous Habits storyline from which the movie plot has been derived is a cracking Hellblazer story. What confuses me is that I read a while back that they had changed the terminal illness from which John Constantine suffers from lung cancer to a brain tumor. Part of the reason for this was that the character wasn't going to be the same as the book in that he wasn't going to be a hard drinking, cigarette smoking, pessimistic prick. The screenshots at the top of this thread ably demonstrate that the character is indeed fond of hard liquor and the odd cigarette. In this light the change to the original plot doesn't make much sense.

[Tweek]

Colin Farrel would have been aweseome as Constantine.

But hey, I'll still go see it.

[The Rain Dog]

Originally posted by night prowler
I am very excited! Keanu Reeves is an awesome actor and I love the story!

Lets not go nuts there...

Either way tho, I'll give it a go - who's directing?

RD

[JCR]

I think the casting of Tilda Swinton- a damn fine actress on her day is interesting enough for me to see it, otherwise I'm not sure I'd bother.

[The Rain Dog]

Director anyone?

RD

[JCR]

Originally posted by The Rain Dog
Director anyone?

RD

Um... not meaning to be rude or anything but you could try, you know, reading the topic before posting ;)

Originally posted by sleekproductions
Reeves said he hopes to get moving on the big-screen adaptation, which will be called simply "Constantine," as soon as September. Warner Bros. has long labored to get the DC/Vertigo comic into theaters, with Nicolas Cage at one time attached to the role before Reeves landed the job. The film will mark the feature film debut of video director Francis Lawrence, whose résumé includes clips for Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and P.O.D. (see "VMA Lens Recap: The Story Behind P.O.D.'s 'Alive'")

[The Rain Dog]

Thanks:o

[JCR]

This is from www.bloody-disgusting.com :

"Reeves' character, supernatural detective John Constantine, is "a guy who's angry and ambivalent," Reeves said. "There's a line in it: 'God has a plan for all of us. Some people like it, and some people don't.' That's kind of my Constantinian take on it. Some people like it. John Constantine doesn't like it, but he likes it."

"Reeves acknowledged that the character and the story are dark, but not so dark as to preclude delivering a piece of commercial entertainment. "Well, we're hoping to make a PG-13 film," he said. "I'm playing a character who is damned, and he's trying to escape hell. He goes to Gabriel [Tilda Swinton] and says, 'Come on, I'm taking demons out of little girls. Who's that for?' Gabriel says, 'Well, you don't believe.' I go, 'I believe, for Christ's sake!' He says, 'No, you don't. You know you don't have faith.' After that [encounter with Gabriel], you see my character with scratches on his back, and he's drinking some whiskey, and he's just made love with a demon. So we're trying to deliver a PG-13 film. My feet are on the floor by the bed, and she's under the covers." Warner Brothers will release Constantine, which also stars Rachel Weisz and Shia LeBeouf, in 2004."

This actually interests me quite a bit, although I wish they had just made it an original movie rather than try to sell it as a adaptation of a comic book it clearly has little/nothing to do with. What's the point of that; fans will be annoyed it's so different from the source material and non fans won't give a damn either way. I don't see the point.

[jeo4]

Funny...I always thought Kiefer Sutherland would make a good Constantine. Seems tailor made for him. Oh well...what the hell do I know? :rolleyes:

[LoomisFan]

Listen...
I love the idea of a Hellblazer-based film, but...
WHY KEANU???!!!
Listen, I know that I may make some people angry, but,...
Keanu really can't act!
With the casting of Keanu Reeves, I think that they may have damned Constantine (kinda ironic, huh?).

[Moviefan1234]

Originally posted by LoomisFan
Listen...
I love the idea of a Hellblazer-based film, but...
WHY KEANU???!!!
Listen, I know that I may make some people angry, but,...
Keanu really can't act!
With the casting of Keanu Reeves, I think that they may have damned Constantine (kinda ironic, huh?).

Given the right material, he's a much better actor than peole give him credit for. He'll be just fine in Constantine.

[LoomisFan]

Given the right material, he's a much better actor than peole give him credit for. He'll be just fine in Constantine.
Yeah, ya might be right, Moviefan1234.

[Tweek]

so john constatine in the movie is now an american.


hmmmmm

and the swearing will be trimmed down considerably.

-will wait for trailers and other clips-


Is it just me or do DC comic movies get really screwed over?

[JCR]

No it's not just you. Let's see WBs recent comic book history: Batman and Robin, Steel, The return of the joker censorship debacle, Wonderwoman (In development hell for years, last version of the script got terrible reviews), Catwoman (OK it could yet pull it out the fire, but I doubt it), not to mention they've reportedly spent $30-40 million developing superman but don't have a single frame of footage to show for it (and I'm trying to forget the 'Lex Luthor is an alien' version of the script)

Constantine could be interesting but I'm not getting my hopes up!

[Zombie Lurve]

Given the recent success of comic book films, it was only time before others would be dragged in (Such as the impending Ghost Rider, with Nicholas Cage)... Hence I was only mildly surprised to hear that Hellblazer was to be adapted into a Hollywood film. I instantly became worried.

John Constantine is an utter bastard, has no morals, cons his way through life, has screwed up his own life and the lives of others several times, and given the Lords of Hell the finger. Yet he is also one of the most popular character's of the Veritgo line...

And who could they possibly add to bring this blonde haired, blue eyed, 40 year old mystic scouser? But Keanu Reeves... The director (Francis Lawrence), apparently only has two directing credits to his name, a Justin Timberlake music video (Rock Your Body)) and an Avril Lavigne Music video (Sk8er Boi)... My fears are utterly justified.

According to the script spec, John Constantine is an aging mystic (At least they got right), currently in Los Angeles (Strange, as Hellblazer is more commonly set in the UK, being a very british book. But I guess they thought supernatural = Angels = Los Angeles), and is apparently insane (I have always seen John Constantine as someone who was instead very sane!)... What's worse is Chas, has been transformed into John's kid sidekick!!!!

I can almost see the film ending with John Constantine performing a triple back flip while engaging in a mid-air fight session with the First of the Fallen. The sound track will ofcourse be sung by Britney Spears ("Hellblazer", to the tune of YMCA)...

Truth be told, Hellblazer could be far better written as a weekly TV series; ALA Angel, Spooks, or Highlander. Cast with actors such as Sean Pertwee, Jimmy Nail, and possibly Sean Bean...