Constantine 2 Director Confirms Status Of The Keanu Reeves Sequel

In an interview GameSpot, "Constantine" sequel prospective director Francis Lawrence confirmed that his previously announced plans for the unlikely follow-up weren't immediately canceled following James Gunn's ascent to co-CEO of DC Films. But despite development being held up by rights issues and the recently resolved Writers Guild of America strike, Lawrence is adamant: "We have control."

According to the 52-year-old filmmaker (who directed the first "Constantine" flick back in 2005), he, Reeves, and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman ("The Dark Tower") have had several meetings to discuss what the story would be. Now that the WGA has reached an agreement with the AMPTP, Goldsman is free once more to begin work on the screenplay. However, Lawrence seems cautiously optimistic — or at the very least hopeful — that "Constantine 2" will make it to the pearly gates of Hollywood. "[We're] really hoping that we get to do Constantine 2, and make a real rated R version of it," he told the publication. Lawrence's interest in a more adult version of the Hellblazer mythos are certainly intriguing, echoing sentiments he's held for over a decade.

In 2011, the same year he directed "Water for Elephants," Francis Lawrence publicly expressed his interest in revisiting the character of John Constantine — this time with stronger elements of horror. "It would be great to figure out a sequel, and if we did... it would be great to do the really dark, scary version," he said at the time. "We got caught in that weird PG-13–R no man's land, and we should do the hard-R scary version, which I would love to do."

A year later, however, Marvel Studios proved its cinematic universe concept with the historic release of "The Avengers." So, Warner Bros. competed by delving further into the interconnected Snyderverse. As time went on, it seemed less and less likely that WB would divert any attention away from the struggling shared-universe concept. Yet in recent years, stars Keanu Reeves and Peter Stormare insisted early development of a potential sequel was still very much underway, with Reeves reaffirming active interested multiple times. The sequel was eventually confirmed by WB in 2022, and soon after James Gunn stated it would fall under the "Elseworlds" banner of non-cannon DC films being produced.

Suffice it to say, the road to "Constantine's" sequel has already been long — and without a script in hand, there's no clear end in sight. Thankfully, however, fans can at least rest east that the project's future is secure for the time being.