While there were conversations in the past about Constantine 2, it wasn’t until recently that a sequel to the 2005 horror movie was confirmed with both Keanu Reeves and director Francis Lawrence collaborating once again. Though the production start date has yet to be announced, the director so far promises a “real r-rated” follow-up feature.
Constantine debuted to mixed reviews upon its release, though it eventually became a cult classic several years after. It starred Reeves as the titular cynical exorcist John Constantine, who has an ability to travel across Earth and Hell.
The superhero thriller, which is now celebrating its 20th anniversary with a first-ever 4K release (set to arrive on February 18, 2025), served as Lawrence’s feature-length directorial debut. Soon after, the director went on to helm a number of acclaimed motion pictures including I Am Legend and four The Hunger Games movies.
What did Francis Lawrence say about the planned Constantine sequel?
Though the director has already come a long way since his first film, making a sequel to Constantine has always been in his mind since the first movie graced theaters in 2005.
“I’d say more than any of my other movies, Constantine has been something that I felt like was really worthy of a sequel. There is a world that you can really explore and there’s a character that we certainly loved and really wanted to explore,” Lawrence told ComicBook.
He continued, “When the movie first came out, it didn’t feel like, ‘Oh, wow, the world is embracing our version of Constantine.’ There was a lot of criticism that we didn’t have the blonde English version of him, and that Keanu was wrong for it, and all those kinds of things. And I think that sort of opinion has really swung around and changed, but we always really loved the world and we always wanted to do a sequel.”
And now that the PG-13 label is longer an issue, Lawrence added: “And so we had been thinking about it. We had also been given an R rating 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.’”
Constantine also starred Rachel Weisz, Tilda Swinton, Shia LaBeouf, and more. Other details about the Constantine sequel remain under wraps.
