Constantine 2 Director Francis Lawrence Reveals How Keanu Reeves Sequel Is Finally Happening
185A few months ago, after years of Keanu Reeves saying that he would love to reprise the role of John Constantine, it was confirmed that a Constantine sequel is finally in the works with the film's original director Francis Lawrence and scribe Akiva Goldsman also returning.
Collider's Steve Weintraub chatted with Lawrence for his upcoming Netflix film Slumberland and couldn't resist talking about the sequel. During SDCC's digital convention in 2020, we hosted a panel to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Constantine, which saw Reeves, Lawrence, and Goldsman reunite to discuss the impact and legacy of the film. Following that panel, Reeves continued to make it known that he wanted to take on the role again, and based on Lawrence's comments it sounds like the panel, in combination with several subsequent interviews, and an appearance on Stephen Colbert's late-night show finally tipped the scales in the favor of the fans. Lawrence revealed, "[Reeves] was asked what character he'd love to play again, and he said John Constantine, and the crowd went nuts. People finally saw that and went, 'Oh, wait, maybe you guys can go and make the Constantine sequel.' So it was sort of a variety of factors."
One of the reasons it took seventeen years to get the sequel off the ground, was the fact that they had to navigate pre-existing plans for the character and work with the various properties involved in his existence, as the director explained:
"It's something that we've been talking about since we made Constantine because we all loved it. So we've been talking about it, talking about it, talking about it. All the DC [properties], because Vertigo is part of DC, that sort of like the control of those properties got complicated with Warner Bros. with DC, with JJ [Abrams]'s deal, you know, all those kinds of things. There's a lot of complicating factors. So it was never Akiva, and Keanu, and I happen to be sort of convinced to do it. It was really trying to figure out how we can get some sort of control over the Constantine character again."
While Reeves is set to return for the sequel, it's not yet clear if any of the original cast will also return. Constantine starred Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Djimon Hounsou, and Gavin Rossdale. While some of these characters might prove challenging to bring back, the magical world of Constantine definitely leaves plenty of room to explore.
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