‘Constantine’ Sequel is Being Written, “Very Rated R”

I know there are quite a few fans of 2005’s “Constantine” on this site, purely based on the amount of emails I’ve received over the last year about whether a sequel is actually happening.

Well, a sequel is officially happening. Akiva Goldsman, returning to Warner Bros, will pen the screenplay. Director Francis Lawrence will helm and, of course, Keanu Reeves is set to star. Also, a surprising addition will be JJ Abrams as a creative consultant and producer — he must be a fan of the original.

Speaking to Gamespot, Lawrence — who directed the original film and the ‘Hunger Games’ franchise — admitted that the WGA strike had temporarily stalled development of the film, but noted he has been in meetings with star Keanu Reeves and Goldsman.

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 very rated R version of it.

You’re wondering, Goldsman, Goldsman, where have I heard that name before? Oh, hey! That’s the guy who wrote “Batman & Robin”! Then again, four years later, he would go on to win an Adapted Screenplay Oscar for “A Beautiful Mind.” His screenplay for Ron Howard’s “Cinderella Man” wasn’t bad either.

Otherwise, Goldsman’s had some real gems over the years, “Batman Forever,” “Practical Magic,” “Lost in Space,” “I, Robot,” “The Da Vinci Code,” “Angels and Demons,” “Winter’s Tale,” “The Dark Tower,” “Divergent: Insurgent,” “The 5th Wave” …

“Constantine” grossed $280 million worldwide. Reeves will reprise his role as supernatural exorcist and demonologist John Constantine, who in the original is dying but stays around to save his soul. The source material was made popular by Alan Moore and Stephen R. Bissette's “Hellblazer” comics.

I honestly can’t remember much about “Constantine.” It didn’t do anything for me when I saw it 18 years ago. Maybe a rewatch will make things a little clearer. The very large fanbase that it’s built over the years puzzles me.