John Constantine is returning to the big screen, but will we see Keanu Reeves back as the chain-smoking Hellblazer?
Shortly after James Gunn announced the first chapter of the first DCU slate, "Gods and Monsters," rumors circulated that a direct sequel to Constantine was in the works, and Warner Bros. later confirmed the project was in the planning stages.
Since then, we've had conflicting reports relating to the movie's status, but director Francis Lawrence claimed that the project was still moving ahead last year.
“The truth is, somewhere around the 15th anniversary or something, we did a Zoom and we all were discussing trying to get it up and going again. And again, we were just more active with it and finally got it past all these hurdles. And so we are now actively working on a script. So it’s really not that it’s just like, ‘Oh yeah, now we think the world is ready for it.’ I certainly think there is a bigger fan base and certainly it’s become a kind of cult classic, which has been really exciting to see and very strange, but it’s something we’ve always loved. We’re now in a spot where we are actively working on a script."
“And so we had been thinking about it.," he went on. "We had also been given an R rating [on the first Constantine] when we kind of made a PG-13 movie and followed all the PG-13 rules. So we’re like, ‘F–k it, let’s go and do a sequel and really make an R-rated movie. Give us an R, let us make a real R-rated movie.’”
Reeves also seemed confident that the sequel would ultimately move forward, but Deadline is now reporting that a new John Constantine movie is in the early stages of development at DC Studios, with Evil Dead Wrath director Francis Galluppi attached to pen the script.
The trade doesn't share any other details, and we're not sure if this project will be set in the main DCU or an Elseworlds tale, but it's probably safe to assume that Reeves won't be returning as the chain-smoking demon hunter.
For what it's worth, Jeff Sneider thinks this might be the role Glen Powell was speaking to the studio about.
Logan and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny director James Mangold is still attached to helm a Swamp Thing movie, which could potentially feature Constantine.
Peter Safran shared a positive update on the project last month.
"We're working on it, absolutely. The script is being written as we speak. But it's something we're excited about. All these things take time – when you've already got a filmmaker involved, you've got to wait for their window [of availability] as well."