In a shocking move, Warner Bros. Discovery has decided to bring back Keanu Reeves and director Francis Lawrence for a sequel to Constantine.
Deadline reports that the sequel to the 2005 film will be penned by Akiva Goldsman, who will also produce alongside Bad Robot's J.J. Abrams and Hannah Minghella. A Constantine reboot series has been in the works from Abrams for some time now, but it seems Reeves' return to superstardom and fan admiration for the cult classic was enough to convince WBD to move forward with a film sequel instead.
The original movie doubled its $100 million budget with a worldwide box office haul of $230 million. But while a strong fan following has developed around the film, it was lambasted by critics at the time, who negatively compared it to Reeves' other genre role in The Matrix Trilogy.
Despite the film underperforming, the character has continued to have a strong presence in the comics and in other forms of media. Matt Ryan took on the role to fan acclaim in 2014's Constantine series, which ran for one season on NBC. Ryan would reprise the role on Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow along with numerous animated and video game appearances.
John Constantine Is Back
Before the recent shakeups at Warner Bros. Discovery, J.J. Abrams was working on numerous supernatural DC projects, including Justice League Dark and Madame Xanadu. A Constantine reboot was also in the works as a series on HBO Max, with casting details even recently emerging. It's not clear if that show is still in development or if Abrams and WBD decided to bank on the success of Reeves in recent years with the John Wick series and simply return to his take on the hero. Either way, it's clear the company is also banking on the reputation of the original by bringing back Lawrence.
The music video director made his film debut with Constantine. He'd go on to direct I Am Legend and the final three Hunger Games movies. He'll return to the franchise for the upcoming prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Goldsman will reunite with Lawrence after writing the script for I Am Legend. His superhero track record is a bit spottier, however. He developed Titans but also wrote the universally panned Batman & Robin. But the writer has had recent success in the Star Trek realm with both Picard and Strange New Worlds, which have received critical acclaim.
The Constantine sequel does not yet have a release date.
Source: Deadline