Keanu Reeves' Constantine isn’t one of the actor’s most popular movies, but it is a role Keanu says he loved. It has become something of a cult classic, which is why a lot of people were very happy by the announcement, nearly two decades after the original, that a Constantine sequel would be happening. Things have been fairly quiet since that reveal, but Constantine 2’s director recently confirmed that the sequel is moving forward.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the new Constantine movie had seen delays due to the writers’ strike, because there isn’t currently a script for the film just yet. But Francis Lawrence, who recently directed The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, told Gamespot that work is now happening, following a discussion with Keanu and sequel writer Akiva Goldsman about just what the story will be, as well as an apparent battle over rights. Lawrence explained…
So Constantine 2 got obviously held up by the writers strike. And we had to jump through a bunch of hurdles to get control of the character again, because other people had control of the Vertigo stuff. We have control. Keanu and Akiva Goldsman and I have been in meetings and have been hashing out what we think the story is going to be, and there's more meetings of those that have to happen--the script has to be written--but really hoping that we get to do Constantine 2, and make a real rated R version of it.
Exactly what the issue was with the character is unclear, but Constantine is part of the DC Comics Vertigo line, and apparently, the rights with that aren’t as simple as they are with the standard DC properties. Of course, the fact that DC’s film universe is going through a massive reboot may have caused its own complications. If James Gunn and Peter Safran had wanted to do something with Constantine, that didn’t include Keanu, it may have led to difficulties in getting the sequel to happen. But similarly to Matt Reeves' The Batman movies, Constantine is a property that exists as an Elseworlds property, not connected to the new franchise continuity.
Even Lawrence is honest that Constantine 2 isn’t a sure thing even now, as he says he’s “hoping” the movie happens, but the fact that things are moving forward makes it seem like the odds are in their favor, though clearly, the movie is still years away.
It was just over a year ago when we got the surprise announcement of Constantine 2, and at that point, aside from the involvement of the director, who directed the original film, Keanu Reeves, and Akiva Goldsman, we knew basically nothing, and as of right now, that’s still the case. But those fans who have wanted to see a sequel for nearly 20 years can remain excited because it does seem like Constantine 2 is still happening. Whether Keanu will go blond for the role, is yet a different question.
