Constantine director Francis Lawrence has provided an update on how development is progressing on the long-awaited sequel to the 2005 DC film.
"We don't have a script, but Keanu [Reeves], me, and Akiva [Goldsman] who all worked on the first one together have all been trying over the years to get another one going," Lawrence told ComicBook.com. "It's been tricky because of the DC/Vertigo world and who owns the character and who has control over the characters, trying to get the right people to go forward. We've got that now and now we need the story. We'd all love to do it."
The first Constantine movie was released by Warner Bros. in 2005, starring Reeves as supernatural exorcist and demonologist John Constantine, who helps a troubled LAPD detective (Rachel Weisz) prove that her twin sister's death was not a suicide but something more. The film, which also starred Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton and Djimon Hounsou, among others, received mixed reviews from critics but was a minor commercial success, grossing $230 million worldwide off its $100 million budget. A sequel was announced in September 2022, with Lawrence and Reeves returning as director and star, respectively, from the 2005 film. Akiva Goldsman (The Da Vinci Code) will write the screenplay as well as produce alongside Bad Robot's J.J. Abrams and Hannah Minghella.
Constantine TV Reboot Canceled
Shortly after Constantine's sequel confirmation, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Abrams' Constantine reboot was no longer moving forward at HBO Max, with the project now being shopped elsewhere. With the reboot series seemingly dead, the show's rumored Constantine, Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù, took to Twitter to give his best to the returning Reeves. "Give 'em Hell, King," the actor wrote on the social media platform. The post also included fan art of Reeves' Constantine incarnation.
Lawrence is currently doing press for his latest film, Slumberland, a Netflix fantasy film based on Winsor McCay's comic strip, Little Nemo in Slumberland. He also recently wrapped production on The Hunger Games prequel film, which will star Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Hunter Schafer, Jason Schwartzman, Peter Dinklage and Viola Davis, among others. The prequel film, subtitled The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, will be the fifth installment overall in the Lionsgate franchise and will serve as an origin story for Coriolanus Snow, the future President of Panem who was played by Donald Sutherland in the original films and by Blyth in the upcoming prequel.
The Constantine sequel does not yet have a release date.
Source: ComicBook.com