Twenty years after the release of the DC Comics adaptation Constantine (watch it HERE), a sequel is finally moving ahead with director Francis Lawrence back at the helm and star Keanu Reeves reprising the role of occult expert John Constantine… but it’s moving ahead slowly, because it has already been a few years since this project was first announced. There’s hope that it might go into production soon, though. We heard that a script for Constantine 2 had been delivered to executive producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura about five months ago, and now Reeves has said that he’s “aching” to play Constantine again.
Scripted by Kevin Brodbin and Frank Cappello, the first Constantine had the following synopsis: As a suicide survivor, demon hunter John Constantine has literally been to hell and back — and he knows that when he dies, he’s got a one-way ticket to Satan’s realm unless he can earn enough goodwill to climb God’s stairway to heaven. While helping policewoman Angela Dodson investigate her identical twin’s apparent suicide, Constantine becomes caught up in a supernatural plot involving both demonic and angelic forces. Based on the DC/Vertigo “Hellblazer” comics. Reeves was joined in the cast by Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Djimon Hounsou, Gavin Rossdale, and Peter Stormare.
Constantine producer Akiva Goldsman is writing Constantine 2 and is also producing the film with J.J. Abrams and Hannah Minghella. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Erwin Stoff serve as executive producers.
Francis Lawrence has previously said that his biggest regret about the first Constantine was the fact that it was shot for a PG-13 rating but ended up receiving an R rating anyway. With this sequel, he intends to aim for an R rating from the start.
Lawrence and Reeves were recently interviewed on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, and during the conversation, Lawrence said (with thanks to SuperHeroHype for the transcription), “Keanu and Akiva and I have been collaborating and I think we have some really, really great ideas that we’re super super excited about.” He added that they’re “pretty close” to having a “workable” script. Then Reeves said, “What Akiva and Francis have come up with and the ideas, I’m aching to play this guy.“
While Constantine 2 is a DC Comics adaptation, it will not be part of the DC Universe franchise being built by James Gunn and Peter Safran, a franchise that’s getting started with the animated series Creature Commandos and this year’s Superman film. Rather, this is an Elseworlds project, much like The Penguin and Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II.
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