Francis Lawrence made his film debut with the Keanu Reeves starrer Constantine in 2005. The film received mixed to negative reviews at the time of release but gained a significant cult following over the years. Lawrence and Reeves announced plans for a sequel in 2011, with the official confirmation coming only in September 2022. However, Lawrence revealed that it was challenging to gain control over the character owned by DC Studios.
Lawrence currently has a successfully running movie in theater – a prequel film in The Hunger Games franchise titled The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. The Red Sparrow director has now shifted his complete focus to the Constantine sequel.
Francis Lawrence Had To “Wrangle Some Control” From DC To Develop Constantine Sequel
Francis Lawrence did not have a dream debut with Constantine, despite the film grossing $230.9 million at the box office. Lawrence’s film was critically panned and Keanu Reeves’ characterization of the DC Hellblazer was not well-received among hardcore DC fans. However, Lawrence’s brilliance was eventually acknowledged when the film achieved cult status.
Deadline reported in September 2022 that Warner Bros. was developing a Constantine sequel with Reeves and Lawrence returning. However, no further updates were provided, with the film being notably absent from DC’s list of upcoming films announced in January 2023. The Slumberland director opened up about Constantine while promoting The Hunger Games film with The Hollywood Reporter. He shared the various obstacles he had to face to revive the sequel.
One of the major issues was getting control over the character from DC, who made several failed or shelved attempts at bringing back the character on-screen. The new regime under James Gunn had their own plans for Constantine. Lawrence had to wrangle some control from the studio to plan the sequel along with Keanu Reeves and writer & producer Akiva Goldsman. Lawrence told The Hollywood Reporter:
“We’ve had many obstacles. Me, Keanu, Akiva have tried over the years to wrangle some control of the character again, because it had been handed over. I think NBC did a TV show, and then J.J. [Abrams] was going to try and do something. And then the regime at DC changed, and they’ve got their plans. But luckily, we managed to wrangle some control and started working on some ideas for Constantine 2, which we’re really excited about.”
Lawrence added that the development of the film was halted due to the strikes and will resume production after Thanksgiving. The director earlier revealed that the script for the sequel was not finalized yet.
Francis Lawrence’s Constantine Sequel Will Probably Be Set In The Elseworlds Universe
Constantine 2 will not be a part of James Gunn’s DCU. Keanu Reeves revealed that he had spoken with Gunn, who confirmed that the film will be set in the DC Elseworlds. It is a universe that is intended to distinguish DC films that are not part of the upcoming DC Universe. The Elseworlds Universe films include the Matt Reeves-directed film The Batman and the Joaquin Phoenix starrer Joker. These films are also currently developing their sequels.
Earlier, NBC had created a series centered around the character. HBO Max also had plans to make Justice League Dark as a show with J.J. Abrams serving as the creator, but was canceled later. Interestingly, Abrams will serve as a producer in the Constantine sequel. It is also speculated that James Gunn might introduce a more comic book-accurate Constantine in the DCU.
Constantine is now available for streaming on Max.
