It took about three months of development, but NBC is apparently ready to commit to the new Constantine project. Back in late September it was announced that the network was working on a show based around the DC Comics anti-hero, and today Deadline has learned that a pilot has been officially given the green light and will be moving forward.
The show is being put together by David S. Goyer and The Mentalist's Daniel Cerone. While the latter is rather new to the world of comic book films and television, the former has basically become the head of superheroes over at Warner Bros. and has worked on everything from Man of Steel to the Dark Knight trilogy to the Blade trilogy to Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. At this time it's hard to say what the timetable is for the pilot, but given how hot comic book properties are now we wouldn't be surprised if NBC makes the project a priority.
John Constantine was first introduced through Swamp Thing comics back in the mid-80s and his own line, Hellblazer, followed his adventures as a supernatural detective working in London. While he has never had quite the popularity level of Superman or Batman, the character did get his own movie back in 2005 directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Keanu Reeves. Unfortunately, the film was largely dismissed by critics and under-performed domestically, making only $75 million of its $100 million budget back.
Comic books are starting to become as popular on television as they are at the box office. Both Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Arrow are running on television now, but Fox also has their new series about Batman's hometown of Gotham (which also just announced a few key new details) and CW is currently working on their Flash spin-off (the pilot is currently in production). It's definitely an exciting time to be a fan.
One of the next big steps for Constantine going forward will be finding an actor who will play the title role. One can assume that the studio won't make the same mistake as the movie did and will actually get a blond actor for the part (or one that will dye his hair), but who is the best fit for the part in Hollywood today? Hit the poll to tell us if you're excited for the new series and then go to the comments to tell us who you think should star.
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