With his new film in The Hunger Games franchise, the prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, out in theatres now [read our review here], director Francis Lawrence is already looking to the future as he is keen to get back to work developing Constantine 2, a long-awaited sequel to the 2005 supernatural film starring Keanu Reeves as exorcist and demonologist John Constantine.
A Constantine sequel was announced to be in development last year after plans for an HBO Max series that would have featured the character failed to get off the ground. Since then, however, there have been further shake ups as the leadership at DC Studios has changed with James Gunn and Peter Safran crafting their own cinematic universe of DC characters. Despite that, Constantine 2 has frequently been cited as still in active development that could take place separate from Gunn’s upcoming series, much like Joker and The Batman Part II will be.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lawrence again confirmed the film is still in the works and he and producer Akiva Goldsman are likely to begin crafting the story after Thanksgiving. He also opened up about the past conflicts they faced as to why Constantine 2 was taking so long to get greenlit, including the character’s various appearances on TV and WB’s cancelled plans. Lawrence finished by stating they’ve got some measure of control over their vision for Constantine and what to do with him in their sequel.
“We’ve had many obstacles. Me, Keanu, Akiva have tried over the years to wrangle some control of the character again, because it had been handed over. I think NBC did a TV show, and then J.J. [Abrams] was going to try and do something. And then the regime at DC changed, and they’ve got their plans. But luckily, we managed to wrangle some control and started working on some ideas for Constantine 2, which we’re really excited about. It’s still the very beginning, as the strike put it on hold for a little bit. So we’re probably going to start getting back together after Thanksgiving, and dig back in to try and crack it.”
Constantine was featured in his own NBC show with Matt Ryan portraying him. The series only lasted one season, but Ryan’s performance was so liked by the fanbase that he reprised the role in The CW’s Arrowverse, first appearing in Arrow and then becoming a main character on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Ryan also voiced Constantine in several of DC’s original animated films, including two of his own in Constantine: City of Demons and Constantine: The House of Mystery. All of these, coupled with the failed Max series and the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, likely played a factor in Constantine 2‘s delay.
What do you hope for in Constantine 2? Do you want to see Reeves return for the role or rather Constantine appear in Gunn’s DC universe? Let us know on our social channels at @flickeringmyth…
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
