The director of the 2005 cult classic Constantine, Francis Lawrence, has opened up about the long-awaited sequel now that a sudden and unexpected changing of the guard has taken place at DC Studios. Following the recent departure of James Gunn and Peter Safran, the Hollywood landscape has been sent into a flurry of worry, speculation, and renewed optimism among creators and fans alike who have spent decades waiting for various cinematic projects to materialize.
While James Gunn cited a distaste for the corporate side of the job during his exit, he confirmed that projects already in motion, such as Man of Tomorrow, are still moving forward. However, fans aren’t the only ones scratching their heads about what might happen next under new leadership. Francis Lawrence, a director renowned for handling massive Hollywood blockbusters, finds himself in a similar position, though he views the situation with a distinctly optimistic lens. For Lawrence, the leadership shift at DC Studios means he might finally get the long-sought-after opportunity to make another Constantine film alongside star Keanu Reeves.
Speaking with Collider ahead of his next major movie release, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, Lawrence clarified that he takes no joy in seeing anyone lose their jobs. At the same time, he freely admitted that he is deeply keen on the possibility of finally getting Constantine 2 off the ground now that the administrative framework at DC is experiencing a major transition.
"Well, I’ll tell you this," Lawrence began during the interview. "Not that I want anybody to lose their jobs, so this is not like a schadenfreude kind of thing, but I will say that we’ve been trying to make Constantine 2 for twenty-something years, and we have an idea, and we have a script, and we have been wanting to make it, and the people that were at DC were an impediment to us making it."
The filmmaker elaborated on how the previous corporate hierarchy acted as a persistent roadblock for the creative team behind the original supernatural thriller. "So, we are now more hopeful as of yesterday’s news that maybe now there will be another opportunity. But again, we’ve been trying to make this for twenty-something years, and there’s always been obstacles in the road to making it, and it’s not me, it’s not Keanu, it’s not Akiva. J.J. [Abrams] is on it, as well. We all want to do it. So, it’s really going to be people at Paramount, Warner, whoever’s running DC now, getting everybody on board to say, like, ‘Hey, we can do a sequel of our version of Constantine?’"
When discussing the creative direction of a potential follow-up, Lawrence made it clear without a shadow of a doubt that this version of Constantine will be crafted as an R-rated film, no matter what happens during negotiations. He explained the interesting history behind the rating of the original 2005 release, noting that the first movie had actually been made with a traditional PG-13 rating in mind. Despite their best efforts to comply with studio guidelines to secure a broader audience, the final cut was unexpectedly hit with an R label by ratings boards, leaving the creative team with very little recourse.
"So, part of the idea from the very beginning was, because we followed all the rules to make a PG-13 movie and we got hit with an R, they told us, ‘You can’t do anything about it. It’s going to be an R no matter what.’ We tried to fight them on it, and they said, ‘Nope. It’s an R,’ but really, it’s an R-rated PG-13 movie, which pisses me off," he explained, reflecting on the frustrating process two decades later.
"And so we all kind of came back and said, ‘Okay, when we do this next time, we’re making the hard-R version of Constantine.’ So when we do it, it’s going to be the hard-R version of Constantine."
Lawrence doubled down on his absolute desire to bring another Constantine adventure to the screen at virtually any cost. He even noted that he would not mind if the project was placed into a shared universe or if other creators wanted to simultaneously remake or reinvent the character to fit DC’s ever-evolving, sprawling plans at some point down the line. According to the director, the original creative team is so dedicated to the project that both he and leading man Keanu Reeves are fully prepared to make substantial personal compromises on their financial compensation just to get the film made if that is what it ultimately takes to convince the studio executives.
"Personally, I don’t even care if somebody has a plan for some sort of shared universe, and they want to do another version of Constantine. If they just let us do the sequel to our version, they can coexist. So, I have renewed hope as of yesterday that there might be some possibility for forward movement there," he said.
"We have to be responsible," he continued, addressing the financial side of the equation and the realities of modern tentpole financing. "We want to make it. This is not the kind of movie that I would charge full freight and Keanu could charge full freight. It’s something we have to do, because we love and want to take a gamble on it, and do it responsibly. And so, we’ve been thinking about that same idea for 20 years, that we’re not going to do it for $100 million. We have to be scrappy about it."
Released initially in the spring of 2005, the original Constantine starred Keanu Reeves in the title role. Based loosely on the acclaimed DC and Vertigo comic book series Hellblazer, the cult classic followed the cynical supernatural detective John Constantine on his dangerous, gritty mission to purge the mortal world of nefarious evil entities, half-demons, and angelic forces walking the earth. Over the last twenty years, the film has steadily built a massive, dedicated following that has continuously clamored for a continuation of Reeves’ distinct portrayal of the iconic occult investigator.
This latest development follows a series of fluctuating updates regarding the property’s cinematic future. Keanu Reeves reportedly pitched a sequel directly to DC Studios, bringing the project to a point where it was considered ready for a script. Meanwhile, it was revealed earlier this month that Evil Dead Wrath writer-director Francis Galluppi was hired by DC Studios to write an entirely separate John Constantine movie project, though industry reports indicate it remains unclear whether Galluppi will also take on directing duties for that specific iteration. As the dust settles from the recent executive changes at DC Studios, Lawrence and his collaborators remain steadfast in their twenty-year quest to finally bring their hard-R vision of the supernatural investigator back to the silver screen.
